Shrouded Orange
by Vesvius
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke died in the Valley of the End. Almost as soon as death takes them, they're attacked by a giant monster with a hole in it. And who the hell's that kid with the white hair? NarutoBleach Xover. NarutoHarem
1. We're Dead?

A/N: I'll start off by saying I don't plan to abandon any of my stories.

Second, I will say Welcome to any new readers of my work, and good to see you to people who like my other stuff. This story is different from all others I've done, for the sole reason that it's a crossover. It's a Naruto/Bleach Crossover, to give details. The two go so well together, but I've only ever seen maybe eight others. So here's my stab at this.

Sasuke is not going to be a central character. Like all my stories, Naruto is the central character. The pairing is Naruto/Harem, my favorite. But this Harem will only be six, unlike the 13 I'm using in All for One. Two Shinigami, Two Humans, Two Former Shinobi.

Other Naruto characters will show up, but not for a little bit.

So I give you the first chapter in my latest work: Shrouded Orange.

* * *

"Well, you really fucked up this time, dobe."

"What're you talking about, teme?! This is all your fault!"

"My fault?! How is it my fault?"

"Well, let's see, you abandoned the village, had me chase after you, charged me with a loaded chidori, moved your head when I tried to knock you out, which ended up with my upper body cut in two and you without a head."

"No one asked you to chase after me!"

"No one except for the Hokage, Shikamaru, Sakura, oh, and me wanting to save your ass!"

"You- you're right."

"Huh?"

"You're right. This entire thing is completely and utterly my fault. I'll take any and all blame you give me. I didn't mean for this to happen, but it's still my fault it happened. So, you're right."

"Cool, you finally admitted it. I'm right. I wish you'd done that BEFORE WE DIED!" Naruto screamed, looking around at their surroundings. The two ninja were still in the utterly destroyed Valley of the End, only it looked… insubstantial somehow. The bodies of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke (one headless and one without it's upper torso) were lying there motionlessly.

Then there were the two spirits themselves. Naruto and Sasuke still looked exactly as they had before the combat, complete with un-torn clothes. But there was one major difference between the two dead and the two alive: there was a large chain running through both of them, binding them to the ground.

"So…" Sasuke said, trying to break the silence. "What the hell is the deal with these chains?"

"How should I know? I've never been dead before. But I want to know what we're still doing here. I always pictured a field of never-ending ramen, naked girls, and me ruling it, as heaven. Not the place I died, and my corpse over there. By the way, the whole staring at my own corpse thing? Completely freaky."

"Well, I guess-" But Sasuke never got to finish his guess, as a huge monster came out of nowhere. It was huge, pure white, shaped like a bison, and had a hideous mask on. The recently deceased Konoha Shinobi stared at it, blinking. "Well, that's not right."

"Tell me about it." Small talk out of the way, they both dodged to the left as far as their chains allowed them, avoiding the clumsy charge of the yak like monster. The thing sniffed the air, and turned towards Naruto.

"Great! Now it wants me!" Naruto yelled, and assumed a defensive stance. He tried to reach into his chakra, but couldn't find anything. "Hey! Where's my chakra?!"

"Dobe, Chakra is the essence of life. We're dead now!" Sasuke yelled, trying desperately to find a way to save his friend. Naruto couldn't dodge anymore, the chain wouldn't allow it. And Sasuke couldn't reach him in time.

But the debate was solved by flash of darkness, and with a warcry, a boy, no older then they were, appeared in midair, katana drawn. In a flash of steel, the monster had dissipated, and the boy was speaking into his hand.

"Hollow neutralized. Two wholes saved. And who the hell was patrolling this sector before me!? Seriously, the way the hollow went after these two, they had to have been sitting here for weeks!" With that, he turned to the two ninja. "Okay, got to go through the routine. My name is Hitsugaya Toushirou, Vice-Captain of the 10th division of Soul Society, which you might know as heaven. The thing you just were saved from-"

"Was a hollow, right?" Naruto interrupted. "We heard you talking to yourself before."

"And since you called us wholes, and that thing a hollow, I guess it's a soul that… spoiled?" Sasuke added.

"Good guess." Hitsugaya said with a raised, snowy, eyebrow. "So, for curiosity's sake, how long have you two been dead? You seem to know each other, so I figure that you two died together."

Naruto thought for a second. "Well, I'd say we died… fifteen minutes ago? Sasuke?"

"Close enough. Can't have been more then half an hour."

Now both of Hitsugaya's eyebrows had lifted to their scalp. "So you two have been dead less then an hour, and already have hollows on you like flies on honey?" Noting the confused look, Hitsugaya explained. "Well, Hollows are dead people, like you, only they've been left here too long. Usually, Shinigami like me come to collect you to either Soul Society or Hell, but sometimes they slip through the cracks. And Hollows like to eat souls, living or dead, that have extremely high reiatsu. That's spirit energy."

"Usually, it takes a few weeks for a recently dead soul to develop enough reiatsu to attract hollows. But in your case, you drew them in under an hour. And I say them because," As a way of finishing his sentence, he drew his sword again, and impaled a lizard-like hollow that was sneaking up on them from behind. "Hmm… I wonder." With that, Hitsugaya pulled out a device from his robe.

"This is a reiatsu scanner. It detects name, position, and the amount of reiatsu each soul has, and gives it a number. See?" He pointed the small box-shaped thing at himself, and pushed a button. A mechanical voice spoke in response.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou. 10th Division vice-captain. Power Reading: 832."

"See? Most average people when they just die have a rating of around three. The average shinigami has a rating of about 200. Let's see what you guys have." With that, he pointed the device at Sasuke and pressed the button.

"Uchiha Sasuke. No ranking. Power Reading: 568."

Once again, Hitsugaya's eyebrows raised. "Well, that certainly explains why the hollow came after you guys. Very high. With training, it'll skyrocket. But first…" He pointed the scanner at Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto. No Ranking. Power Reading: 1504."

"HOLY HELL!" Hitsugaya screamed, losing composure. "1504! This thing's gotta be screwed up!" He pointed it again.

"Uzumaki Naruto. No Ranking. Power Reading: 1504."

Hitsugaya breathed deeply. "Well, that settles it." He said, once he regained composure. "You're both becoming shinigami, whether you want to or not." The Vice-Captain of the 10th division sat down. "Take a seat, while I talk about the basics of being shinigami."

Naruto and Sasuke obliged quickly, getting the sense that the small shinigami had already received too many shocks, and wouldn't take being disobeyed very well. He inhaled, and began. "Okay, we shinigami have three duties. First, we patrol the human world, though few can see us, and perform Konso, or the soul burial. We basically stick our swords into people, say a few nice words, then move on. That's what I'll be doing to you to send you on."

The two recently deceased traded looks. Catching the apprehension, Hitsugaya tacked on "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. And you'll get swords soon." Having calmed down the two, he continued. "Second, we make sure there are an even number of souls in Soul Society and Earth. We do that by first, performing konso, and second, reincarnating those who ask for it. Not many do. But if the souls are out of balance, it'll be really bad. So bad, I'm not even sure what'd happen."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded. "Finally, we slay hollows. Hollows get their name from that." He pointed at the chains still hanging from the chests of the recently deceased. "When the chain of fate disappears, the soul becomes a hollow, and wants to destroy and devour souls. Because we need to protect the soul balance, that's a bit of a problem. So, we go, slay them, cleanse them, and send them along their way."

"Gotcha." Naruto said, seconds before Sasuke could say "Understood."

Naruto had one thing to ask though, as did Sasuke. Naruto got there first. "So, how long have you been dead?"

"I've been dead over two hundred years, a shinigami for one hundred fifty, and a vice captain for fifty." Noting the confused looks (again) on the faces of the newly dead, he clarified the points. "Ok, you can look however old you want to in Soul Society. I just like to look fifteen."

Sasuke had his questions next. "First, that sword seems… strange. I'm no stranger to blades, and I've never seen one like that. Second, you keep mentioning captain, vice-captain, and divisions. What's that all about?"

Hitsugaya looked at his sword fondly. "Correct. This is not a normal katana. This is a Zanpakuto, or Soul Slayer. Each one is different, each one has a different name and each one has different abilities. You all get one after you pass the shinigami academy, but you learn it's name and powers as you get more in tune with your Zanpakuto."

"As for divisions, captains, and vice-captains, all shinigami are divided up into one of the thirteen divisions. For example, my division, the 10th, specializes in stealth and assassination of highly-ranked hollows. Captains are in charge of their division, and Vice-Captains are their second in command. There are also seated officers below the vice-captain, seats three though nine. You'll meet all of the captains and vice-captains later." He stopped his explanation as Naruto raised his hand, as if in the academy.

"If you're so high ranked, why're you out here?"

"Well, you see…" Hitsugaya rubbed the back of his head in a manner familiar to Naruto. "I got bored. There's nothing like the thrill of combat to equalize the monotony of paperwork. Now, if there're no more questions, I can perform Soul Burial." Not giving anymore time for questions, he stuck Naruto with his Zanpakuto and recited a few words. Naruto faded out, going to soul society. Quickly, Hitsugaya performed the same ritual on Sasuke, to identical results.

Before he ran back to the society himself, he pulled out his communicator. "Commander, two new shinigami have just been passed on. My recommendation is to give them the meet and greet, then place in the academy. Hitsugaya out."

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke emerged in a small room, decorated in stripes. They looked at each other, quickly discovering that they were dressed in pure white robes. Before they could make any other observations, a voice from behind them spoke out in a monotonous tone that suggested he had done this many times.

"Hello, my name is Momochi Zabuza, fourth seat of the 11th division. I'm here to guide you to your next place of work, as you have been chosen to become Shinigami. And… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?!"

The two dead gennin spun around, and were indeed greeted by the incredulous, still bandaged face of one Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist, and now, fourth seat of the 11th division. "Well…" Naruto said. "We died."

"Really?" Zabuza said sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed. Now give me details!" Soon enough, the entire death circumstances of Naruto and Sasuke had been revealed to the former ninja. "Well," Zabuza said once they were done. "That's fucked up. Seriously, that's fucked up. But it's not my place to tell you how fucked up your death was. Seriously, one guy here got crushed by a pantry someone threw at him. Now, it's time for me to show you around."

Zabuza gestured around. "This is the reception room in Seireitei, the Court of Pure Souls. Otherwise known as base of the Shinigami. We're in the center of Soul Society. Surrounding us is Rukongai, the place where everyone who's not a Shinigami goes. It looks just like a village, and is organized through eighty districts. Now, we're going to walk around Seireitei, and I'm going to introduce you to the captains and vice captains of all thirteen divisions. We'll start with number thirteen, because it's closest."

After a short walk, Naruto, Sasuke, and Zabuza were all outside a big building with the number thirteen on the front of it. "Ok, this is the HQ for the thirteenth division. It specializes in mediation. Basically, it's our police force. If there's a dispute that's not important enough to go to the central 46, that's our ruling court system, it comes here. They deal with it quickly and fairly." Zabuza slid the door open, and shouted "Captain Ukitake! Vice-Captain Shiba! We've got a meet-and-greet!"

There was the sounds of another door sliding open, and two men walked through it. One was tall, stately, and had shoulder-length silver hair. The other was shorter and more rugged, with a spikey hairstyle reminiscent of Narutos. The taller one nodded. "I am Captain Ukitake, Captain of the Thirteenth division. This is my second, Kaien Shiba."

"Good to meet you."

As the three walked away, Naruto whispered in Zabuza's ear. "What're we doing this for?"

"Saves you from getting your ass kicked for pissing off the wrong person."

"Ah."

The Three kept walking, and soon came to a darkened building, with a little plaque on the front. "This is the research and development laboratory, also known as the twelfth division HQ. I'm just warning you, the captain is a little… odd." With that, Zabuza pushed the door open. The room was pitch-black, except for small, blinking lights on some kind of control panel. A stooped figure in front of it waved his pure white hand.

"Close the door, close the door!" he shouted in a raspy voice, then turned around. Sasuke blanched. This man was demonic! He had a pure black face, with the only color being his eyes, mouth, and nose outline. He was dressed in the standard white captains robes, but otherwise, didn't even look human. "So, these are the new recruits?" he sniffed the air. "I smell strong Reiatsu. Zabuza, go tell the commander that I desire one of them for a few experiments."

"Sorry, Captain Kurotsuchi, I have direct orders to not allow you to experiment on either one of them."

The freakish man sighed. "A shame. I was going to give them the best treatment for Test Subjects too."

Zabuza jumped. "Okay, Guys, this is Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri of the 12th division. His 'daughter', Kurotsuchi Nemu, is around somewhere, but we can meet her later, correct?" The two nodded frantically, and they all walked out of the lab as fast as possible without running.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances. "He reminds me of Orochimaru." Naruto said. In a very un-Sasuke like gesture, he nodded agreement emphatically.

"Next on the tour is 11th division, home of the combat specialists. Prepare to fight." Zabuza said with a feral grin. Sure enough, no sooner had they entered the 11th division HQ then an enormous Reiatsu source dropped from the ceiling.

"FRESH MEAT!" the scarred man screamed. Naruto and Sasuke dodged to the left and the right, while Zabuza merely drew his Zanpakuto. With a clang of steel, the blade was stopped.

"Captain Zaraki, I though you promised not to do this today."

With a snarl, the captain jumped back. "I always forget that when someone with power steps in. You, Zabuza, have power. I'm not sure about these others, no matter what Hitsugaya says."

"Guys," Zabuza said. "This is Captain Zaraki Kenpachi, of the 11th division. And the little girl on his shoulder is Kusajishi Yachiru, his vice-captain. Also, she's president of the Shinigami Women's Association. If you see anything with a weird, cute name, it's her fault."

"Zabu!" the pink haired girl shouted. "You said you weren't going to tell them!"

"And you said you were going to keep Captain Zaraki from attacking me!"

"Hee Hee… good point."

"Now, Naruto, Sasuke, we're leaving. Off to 10th division!" With that, the three left towards 10th division, Stealth and Assassination specialists. There, they met Hitsugaya again, because his captain was off on a mission. Then, it was time to visit 9th division, specialists in Kido.

"What's Kido?" Naruto asked.

"It's a special attack that we use our Reiatusu to power. Another name for it is Demon Arts. Think of it like Ninjutsu and we'll all be happy." There, they met Tosen Kaname, captain, and Hisagi Shuhei, his vice captain. Both were peaceful, calm men, who talked about peace non-stop while Naruto and Sasuke were there.

After that, it was time for 8th division, the artists of the Shinigami. When asked by Naruto 'What the Hell that means', Zabuza responded with "These guy are battle specialists, like the 11th, but also focus on new ideas and tactics, like the 12th. The pretty much find new ways to fight every time they do it."

The Vice-Captain, Ise Nanao, was a stern woman, who reminded Naruto of a librarian he had met once. She was pretty good looking though. The captain, Kyoraku Shunsui, was another matter. "Come on, Zabu! Bring your little friends too! Let's all have a drink!"

"So Sorry, Captain Kyoraku. We must run." Zabuza said, pulling Naruto and Sasuke along with him. "Gotta visit the 7th!"

As they walked, Zabuza explained what the seventh division was. "The 7th is home for one group of people: those who use brute force. They crush opposition with one blow, and move on. They have no sense of tactics, instead preferring to rush ahead swinging. The 11th is kind of like a hybrid of the 8th and the 7th. The 8th uses tactics, the 7th uses force, and the 11th uses both."

The captain, as expected, was huge. He had a huge robe, and a kind of bucket-mask over his head. "Captain Komamura Sajin, I introduce you to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto, Sasuke, this is the captain of 7th division. Next to him is Iba Tetsuzaemon, his second." Both nodded politely at the new arrivals, then went back to sparring.

The tour guide dragged them on, stopping briefly at Sixth Division. "The 6th is where nobility is usually placed. They're tough, but almost all are born noble or friends of those who are. They don't have a vice-captain right now, as the captain is very picky about who he chooses." They stopped in front of a stately man with black hair, noble features, and a strange hair ornament. With a bow, Zabuza said, "Captain Kuchiki, I make known to you Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto, Sasuke, this is Captain Kuchiki Byakuya." The man swept by with barely a nod.

"Fifth division is out on a mass joint training mission with third division right now. They specialize in a certain branch of Kido used to capture and immobilize the enemy. It's kinda like genjutsu. The captain is Aizen Sosuke, and the vice-captain is the newly raised Hinamori Momo. But like I said, they're out, so we'll skip their HQ."

"Fourth division specializes in healing. If you get wounded at all, you'll spend sometime here. They're unique right now because both their Captain and Vice-Captain are women, the only division where that has happened right now. Captain is Unohana Retsu, Vice-Captain is Kotetsu Isane."

Zabuza guided the two into the infirmary, and two ladies (one in captains robes, the other with a lieutenant patch) came up quickly. "Zabuza, did Kenpachi over do it again?" The lieutenant asked wearily, as if this happened often.

"Nah, I'm on tour duty with some guys that I knew when I was alive. Naruto, Sasuke, this is Captain Unohana and Vice-Captain Kotetsu." Both Naruto and Sasuke bowed a little, knowing they'd be seeing a lot of these two. Unohana was pretty, with two black pigtails, while Kotetsu was tomboyish with short silver hair.

"My, how polite." Unohana said with a smile. "Zabuza, you could learn from them!"

"I am the picture of good manners, decency, politeness, and-"

"You came in here, cursing in three languages, then called us bitches for not reattaching your arm faster."

"Heh Heh… I thought you forgot about that. Let's go guys, before you make me look worse!" Quickly, Zabuza dragged the two away.

"Next would be third division, but like I said, they're away on a joint training mission with the fifth. But I'll give you some information. The Captain is Ichimaru Gin, and the Vice is Izuru Kira. They specialize in strange abilities. The Captain's sword can shoot long ranges, and the Vice-Captain's makes things heavier. It's very strange mix over there."

"We're almost done now. Next is 2nd Division. They're kind of like Konoha's ANBU. They police sometimes, but are mostly our last and best line of defense. They all like Hand-to-Hand combat, and are willing to lay down their lives to defend the Soul Society. Captain is Soifon, and the Vice-Captain is Omaeda Marechiyo."

The three walked into the heavily fortified area that was the HQ of the Second division, and Naruto was struck dumb by the woman sitting on a pillow in the middle of the room. 'Beautiful…' was the first thought going through his head, while the second was 'She could rip my heart out and feed it to me… NEAT!'

"Naruto, Sasuke, this is Soifon, captain of the second division. Her vice-captain is out on a patrol right now though." Soifon opened her eyes, looked at the three, nodded once, then closed her eyes again. "Captain Soifon meditates a lot." Zabuza explained as he led them out, but not before Naruto looked over his shoulder one more time at the meditating captain.

As the three left, Soifon opened her eyes again. She had easily picked up on Naruto's thoughts, and a ghost of a smile crossed her face. 'Interesting guy…'

"Finally," Zabuza said. "There's first division. It rules over all the other divisions. It's the best of the best. The captain of the first is captain of all the captains. He is General Yamamoto-Genryūsai Shigekuni, leader of the 13 divisions. But that's too long, so we usually call him General Yama. His second is newly raised, also newly dead, but the General seems to think he can handle it. His name is…"

Before Zabuza could finish, the door opened. Out came an old, stooped man that Naruto assumed was General Yama. But behind him was… "OJI-SAN!" Naruto yelled, charging the newly revealed Sandaime Hokage. In seconds, Naruto was firmly crushing the deceased elder against him in a huge hug.

"Naruto-kun!" the Sandaime exclaimed. "Sasuke-kun! Do I want to know why you've died so soon?" The two sat down, and hesitantly began to explain their premature demise to the man they had looked up to in life.

After they were done their story, Sarutobi chuckled. "Well, these things happen in life and in death. At least in death, Sasuke-kun, you no longer have to worry about that curse seal. And I'm sure that when Itachi-kun joins us, you'll be able to fight him then."

Sasuke nodded hesitantly. "Hai."

Yama, watching from the side, said "So these are two of the ninja my lieutenant thinks of so highly. Let's see if you can become Shinigami of the same regard. So, Zabuza, show these two to the academy!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were all inside of the academy. "Back to the Academy. Maybe it won't take three times to pass this as well." Naruto said.

"Buck up, Dobe. If you fail, I'll kick your ass."

That was all that they were able to say before they were split up, rushed off to different rooms. "Uzumaki! Room 263. Roommate: Matsumoto! Uchiha! 472. Roommate: Abarai!" With that, the two were shot off to their different rooms.

Naruto entered his room, a small white room with a bunk bed, and saw his roommate waiting there. "Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He said, extending his hand.

His roommate smiled, and extended her own. "Matsumoto Rangiku. Nice to meet you." Naruto inspected her. She was a pretty girl, with one problem: she was almost flat-chested.

Sasuke was off meeting his own roommate. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke, and if you touch my stuff I'll rip your hand off."

"You don't have any stuff."

"So it's a moot point."

"I'm Abarai Renji, in case you wanted to know."

"Why don't you have any eyebrows?"

The next four years were a blur to Naruto and Sasuke. They sat together at meals, along with Rangiku and Renji, swapping stories about when they were alive. They had one class together (controlling the size of your Zanpakuto). And occasionally, they sparred together.

Finally, graduation day came. Rangiku had filled out nicely, developing breasts every girl envied and every guy wanted to touch. But only Naruto could talk to her normally, having spent enough time around her to know her, and not just be interested in her chest size. Renji, having taken Sasuke's eyebrow comment to heart, had gone out one day and gotten tattoos like lightning bolts instead of eyebrows. The bolts spread everywhere, and pretty soon, Renji was covered in tattoos.

Naruto had changed the most. Once he had gotten control of changing his appearance using Reiatsu, he permanently boosted his height, and made it look like he was 17. Sasuke did the same, wanting to stay the same age as his still-best friend.

Changes aside, it was time for the final exam. Presiding over the exam were all 13 Vice-Captains (Actually 12 Vice-Captains and a Third Seat. The Sixth division still had no Vice-Captain.) In charge was Sarutobi. "Today, cadets, it's time for the final graduation. You will split up into teams of four, and each team will be accompanied by one Vice-Captain. You will be allowed to use all Kido abilities you have, as well as your Zanpakuto."

At that, Naruto restrained a cheer. They'd all been forced to use the basic sword, which looked like a regular katana and had no special abilities. But they'd all been given their Zanpakuto, which felt distinctly different then the basic sword. They'd been allowed to touch their Zanpakuto twice: once while forming it, then another time during the session to control it's size.

"Your goal is to slay a hollow. It doesn't matter what it is, what it's powers are, or how strong it is, but each time must cleanse one hollow without interference by any of the Vice-Captains. Now divide up, and come retrieve your Zanpakuto."

Naruto quickly rescued Rangiku from the hordes of guys trying to get her on their team, and the two met up with Sasuke and Renji. They all went up front, retrieved their blades, and were assigned Kotetsu, Vice-Captain for the Fourth Division.

Ten minutes later, the five shinigami were out patrolling a sector of a city with high hollow concentration. Soon enough, they had found a hollow, a large one that looked like a badger. Kotetsu pulled out her scanner. "Tunneler, a C-ranked hollow. Special Ability to dig into the ground at super speeds. No bounty. You want to go for it?"

The four friends traded glances. "Hai!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke immediately charged into the fray, engaging the hollow with his Zanpakuto. Behind him, Rangiku slunk into the shadows, searching for a good place to strike. Renji charged in, working with Sasuke to capture the hollow in a pincer movement. Meanwhile, Naruto stood back, watching.

With a snarl, the hollow dug underground, reappearing under Renji. With a swipe of it's paw, it sent the tattooed one flying. But this gave Naruto an opening. "Ye Lord, Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man, Inferno and pandemonium, The sea barrier surges, March on to the south! Destructive Art Four! Shot of Red Fire!" With a blast, a fireball shot out of Naruto's palm, impacting the hollow. It overbalanced, falling right towards Sasuke, who entered a quick draw pose.

"DIE!" he screamed, and lashed out, slicing the hollows mask in two.

* * *

Minutes later, they were all back in Seireitei, being debriefed while Sarutobi, having received Kotetsu's report, went to speak with the thirteen captains, twelve of whom could pick from the team (The first division usually only accepted people after five years of service). "… and Finally, Uzumaki Naruto seems to be a little of both. He enjoys fighting, but uses Kido a fair amount. His best class was tactics, but he's no slouch in healing techniques either. I have no idea where we should put him."

Yama spoke first, as custom said. "It's obvious to me that Matsumoto is a stealth type. She's shoo in for 10th division." The newly raised 10th division captain, Hitsugaya, smirked at having a new addition.

"Arabai is tough. I'd originally say to put him in eight division, but he wouldn't work there very well. I say we put him in sixth division. He might not be nobility, but he does have the fighting spirit that all members of the sixth division share." Byakuya nodded once.

"Uchiha loves to fight. He simply loves it. He doesn't use much Kido, and he engages in blade to blade combat every chance he gets. He's one of yours, Kenpachi." The scarred captain of the 11th division grinned maniacally.

"As for Uzumaki… he spreads out in many directions, like Sarutobi said. He's not good at peaceful solutions, so the 13th is out. He has a grasp of tactics and strength, but doesn't fight for the sake of fighting. That eliminates the 7th, the 8th, and the 11th. No sense of stealth though, talking the 10th out of the question. He never uses new technology, and has no interest in developing it, so no to the 12th. Out of the remaining ones, I believe he would fit in best in the 3rd, so I'll-"

"Excuse me, General." Everyone gaped at the person who had spoken. They could count the times Soifon spoke out of turn on one hand, and here she was doing it! "I believe he is a better fit in my division."

"What makes you say that, Captain Soifon?"

"In the mission reports, he used one of the most destructive Kido he could handle, but only did it when his comrades were all out of the way. He also aimed it perfectly, blasting it towards his teammate to finish off. I know people who've tried to destroy it themselves, rather then handing a sure kill to someone else."

"Sarutobi? You knew him in life. What's your opinion?"

"I concur with the 2nd Captain. Uzumaki Naruto would be an excellent fit in the 2nd Division."

Yama picked up a rubber stamp. He usually didn't give in to demands, but he didn't remember the last time Soifon requested a Shinigami be placed in her division. Also, Sarutobi did know the one in question better then he did in this case. He stamped down on Naruto's picture: SECOND DIVISION. "Uzumaki Naruto, welcome the second division."

* * *

A/N: Well, that's the first chapter. Not my best work, but it'll get better. Sorry bout the long tour scene. I wanted to introduce you to all the captains and vice ones that'll be important for later. I also wrote such a long explanation so any Naruto Only Fans who were interested could read it and understand it. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in chap 2.


	2. The Shinigami Battle Royal

A/N: Well, I'm kinda shocked at the amount of response I got for the first chapter. But that huge response, as well as my love for both manga, as made me write the longest chapter in the history of my fanfic writting. This thing is 8,180 words, without the authors note! That's 19 pages! I would have stopped it earlier, but I was on a roll. Besides, I always know how much I enjoy reading huge chapters. So, enjoy!

* * *

It was disgusting. It was large, drooling, and breathing heavily. It had a hole in its body where a normal spirit would have none. Its mask, and body, was reminiscent of a great bat. The comparison only grew stronger as it flapped its leathery wings. It was Kulaidar, a C-class Hollow, currently hunting for fresh souls in Southwest Africa. 

He was not disgusting. He was taller then the average human, very tan, muscular, and topped with a spiky mop of blonde hair. He was dressed in the standard Shinigami uniform, marked with the insignia of the second division. Wit ha snap of this thumb, his Zanpakuto shot out of it's sheath and into his hand. He was Uzumaki Naruto, unseated shinigami of the second division.

A feral grin on his face, Naruto dove into combat. A yell and an overhand chop later, the hollow was dissipating into it's former self. While pieces of it flaked off and disappeared, Naruto was locked in an internal struggle. 'Should I do the cool, cape-fluttering one, or something involving sheathing my sword really slow? Maybe I should say something cool! But what?' But soon it became too late for Naruto to say anything as the hollow faded out of existence and it's soul went on to Soul Society. 'Damn!' Naruto thought, then shrugged. 'I'll get it right next time.'

With a slash of his Zanpakuto, a gateway opened up in thin air. The door slid open, and Naruto stepped through, reappearing in the pure white room known as the 'reentry pad'. Despite it's name, there wasn't a single padded area in the room. But nevertheless, the room was where all Shinigami came when they returned from anything in the living realm. So far, Naruto had only used the room five times in his three weeks as an active shinigami, all five times for Hollow Hunting.

Most new Shinigami went out Hollow Hunting daily, hoping to impress their captain and seated officers with their diligence, combat skills, and hollow-killing abilities. But that was not for Uzumaki Naruto. Each time he went out, he returned with at least three kills, as opposed to the two-a-week the usual Shinigami got. Today, Kulaidar had been his fifth of the day, and he had returned an hour early.

With only five days of Hollow Hunting, and a total of twenty-six hollows slain, Naruto was already being hailed as the next Shinigami Prodigy, a title previously bestowed upon Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the 10th division. But Naruto's hatred of the word 'prodigy', and anything like it, including 'genius' and 'scion', had followed him from life to death, and he loathed that title with a passion. But he had stopped his complaints when Sasuke had voiced opposition very forcefully.

"Listen, dobe." He said. "You've wanted to be looked up to all your life. Now, in death, people are looking up to you. Not because of some arbitrary position, or some worthless talent, but because you're becoming the best at something. You got what you wanted. Now shut up about it."

"Hmm… the best?" Naruto asked, a sly grin finding it's way onto his face. "So, how many Hollows do you have, Sasuke?"

Sasuke grumbled, kicked the dirt, and muttered something that sounded like "Seventeen."

Naruto shook his head, clearing it of thoughts as Sarutobi fell into step with him as he left the reentry pad. "So, oji-san, what can I do for you?" Naruto asked. Even in death, his loving nickname would survive, though Sarutobi could have him punished for being so disrespectful.

"You have some free time, and you've gotten to know your way around the Seireitei pretty well. Plus, Zabuza's been whining about getting some time off from tour guide duty." Sarutobi stated serenely. "So, basically, this is me assigning you tour guide duty for the rest of the day."

Naruto grunted. This would take time out of his training, but it's not like he had much else to do around here. Besides, tour guide duty was notoriously slow, only a few people popping up a week. He'd still get his training time. But Naruto had to make sure of something. "Is it cleared with Soifon-teichou?"

Sarutobi smirked. "She's cleared it."

"Well, I'm off then." Naruto said, and began to walk towards the small white room he had arrived in years before. But something Sarutobi said made him speed up his steps.

"Better hurry, Naurto-kun. There're already some people waiting for you."

* * *

Moments later, Naruto was reading over the prepared speech Zabuza had left him. He looked at the door, listening hard, and heard a few people moving around. Pushing to door open, he began reading off of the card. "Hello, I'm Insert Name, I mean Uzumaki Naruto, Shinigami of the Second Division. I will be your tour guide today, and…" He looked up, and stared into a pair of eyes. Bright green eyes surrounded by dark circles, topped with red hair, and staring at him incredulously. 

"… HOLY HELL!" Naruto yelled. "What the hell killed Sabaku no Gaara?!" He looked around, seeing the other two occupants staring at him as well. "Temari? Kankurou? No wonder you wore that hood and makeup, you look weird without it. But anyway-" Naruto's monologue was cut out with an off as he lost his all his air. When he regained his breathing abilities, he found he was in the middle of a group hug, initiated, surprisingly, by Gaara.

"(cough) It's good to see you guys (cough) too. Now can you let go of me?!" Immediately, Kankurou let go, rubbing the back of his head. Temari held on for another minute, but then leapt away like she burned herself. Gaara, however, slowly withdrew, as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary.

"So, anyway, spill." Naruto said. "What the hell killed the three of you?"

Gaara, obviously deciding to be difficult, said "You first. Why're you alive? I got reports that you died!"

Naruto sighed. "Who collected you guys anyway?"

Temari piped up. "Some creepy guy with lots of tattoos and bright red hair."

"That would be Renji. No wonder you guys don't know anything. So here's what's going on…" Over the next twenty minutes, Naruto gave the Sand Siblings an abridged version of the speech Hitsugaya had given him years ago. "Now, answer my question. Why're you dead."

Still the spokesman for the group, Gaara said "… biological warfare." Noting Naruto's inquisitive look, he said "Akatsuki is still after the bijuu, even though the kyuubi appears to beyond their reach. They've recently discovered that it's far easier to extract one from a person that's very sick then one that's just had the holy hell beaten out of him. So the plant guy whipped up a disease, attuned it to my DNA, and sent it into Suna."

"Because my DNA and my siblings DNA are similar, they both got infected as well. But before Akatsuki could finish extracting my demon, I managed to summon a sand blade and finish myself. I believe my brother and sister succumbed to the sickness." In confirmation, Temari and Gaara nodded. Naruto, however, stared at Gaara, speechless for the moment.

The moment didn't last long. "Gaara, I'm fairly sure that that's the most I've ever heard you talk. Besides, how'd you figure this out anyway?"

"Kisame gloats a lot, which gave me enough time to get the sand blade."

After that morbid peace of news, Naruto led them on a whirlwind tour of the Seireitei. Soon, they were at the gates of Second Division. "This is my division, the second. Our emblem is a tulip. We are the final and most powerful line of defense incase the Seireitei is invaded. And this," he slid the gates open. "Is where we live, train, eat, and hang."

Naruto was pushed to the side as a huge man (huge as in fat, not muscular) shoved by. Naruto stared after him, annoyance flickering in his eyes. "And that is Omaeda Marechiyo, our vice-captain. He's an annoying prick who thinks everything should be his because he was born to one of the three noble families of Soul Society. Trust me, avoid him as much as possible and you'll be much happier."

"Luckily, here in the second, unlike some other divisions, the vice-captain doesn't run the division. The captain, Soifon-teichou, takes a very 'hands on' approach to leading the squad, and her decisions are always tough but fair. I'd introduce you, but I haven't seen her around recently. So, it's off to the first division."

As Naruto led the Sand Siblings to the first division building, Soifon, lurking in the shadows, smiled. 'Tough but fair, huh?' she thought. 'Well, I've got a tough but fair decision for you, Uzumaki. Knowing you, you'll finally shut the Omaeda up about their supposed superiority.'

At the end of the tour, the sand siblings were about to enter the academy, when Naruto grabbed Gaara by the shoulder. That gesture would usually summon blasts of sand, gouts of blood, and another corpse, but Gaara simply looked back at him questioningly.

"Gaara, I'll visit sometimes, ok?" Naruto said. He was worried about his friend. He had picked up enough from Temari and Kankurou when Gaara wasn't listening to know that his friend hadn't been in good shape since Naruto had died. Apparently, he had fallen deeply into madness again, though not as homicidal. He merely channeled his madness against the enemy. It was thanks to Sabaku no Gaara that the once prosperous village of Kumo was now a smoldering ruin.

Gaara smiled back, a little one, but it reached his eyes. "I'd like that." With that, the Sand Siblings walked into the Shinigami Academy. 'I don't think it'll know what hit it.' Naruto thought with a smirk.

As he watched his friends walk through the doors, he sensed someone behind him. A quick glance showed that it was only Renji. "Do you think you could have done a little more explaining, Arabai? Would have saved me a shit load of trouble."

"Sorry," Renji said sheepishly. "I sorta figured they'd know you, and you'd want to see them as soon as you could. So I just Konso'd them and figured that they'd let you sort it out." Naruto shrugged it off. "Well, anyway, I've got something I want you to see. You up for a little more hunting today, Uzumaki?"

Naruto nodded. "Why not? I came back early today anyway. After you."

* * *

Shortly, the two were on the field once more, looking for a fresh hollow. They found one soon, a humanoid one without any special abilities. Renji pulled out his scanner, and read the info off to Naruto. "Skeleor. D-Class Hollow, no bounty. No special abilities either. Perfect." 

"Perfect? For what?"

Renji drew his Zanpakuto in answer, and leapt up into the sky. When he was directly above the hollow, he swung downwards. 'A standard maneuver,' Naruto thought. 'No reason for me to be called down to…' But his thoughts were interrupted when Renji screamed "Howl! Zabimaru!"

As Naruto watched, Renji's blade shortened, thickened, and grew spines. Soon, it had achieved the form of Renji's Shikai. 'Holy shit!' he thought. 'He's already got his shikai!' As Naruto watched, Zabimaru swung out, and stretched, and sawed the hollow in two with the precision of a buzz saw.

When Renji walked back over to Naruto, swaggering slightly, Naruto was still in shock. "When the hell did you get your shikai?!" Naruto practically screamed. "We usually can't unlock them for another year! It's been almost a month! A month is not a year!"

Seeing that his friend was beginning to babble, Renji kindly slapped him upside the head. Naruto shook his head to clear it. "Thanks. I needed that. But anyway, when did you get your shikai?"

Renji smirked. "Just yesterday. I found out that Shikai immerge much faster if in a life-threatening situation. One showed up when I was double teamed by B-Class Hollows. Zabimaru here decided it would be a good time to show up, and the rest is history."

"Nice." Naruto said, nodding. "Maybe I'll get mine soon."

"Not anytime this week." Renji said absently.

Naruto's head shot up, sensing something interesting. "What? Why not?"

Renji looked at him in confusion. "You mean they didn't tell you? There's a Shinigami battle royal happening next week, and qualifying matches begin tomorrow. I was sure you'd know!"

* * *

But at that very moment, in the first division HQ, there was a meeting of the 26 most powerful shinigami in the Seireitei: the 13 division captains and their vice-captains. Yama banged his cane on the ground. "This meeting of the Gotei thirteen, with their subordinates, has been called. In case you've forgotten, I've called you here to accept nominations for the battle royal next week. Both the captain and vice-captain will choose someone from their division, and the two choices will have a preliminary match. The winner will move on to the actual battle royal." 

The captains and vice-captains began rattling of their choices. There were some obvious favorites chosen, such as Madarame Ikkaku, the third seat of the 11th division, and Abarai Renji, a fast-climber in the sixth division. Then it was the second division's turn. In the past, the battle royal participants were chosen solely by the Vice-Captain, Marechiyo, because Soifon had never decided that it was worth it to pick someone else. And as Marechiyo was a large believer in Nepotism, his brother was frequently chosen. This was despite the fact that Marejirosaburo was possibly more incompetent then his brother, if that was possible.

Sure enough, Marechiyo spoke up first. "For my choice, unless Soifon-teichou goes against it, is my brother, Omaeda Marejirosaburo is going to the battle royal."

Sighing, Yama spoke up. "Ok, for my choice-"

Soifon shocked them all by raising her hand to halt the venerable first captain. "I have chosen to name someone this year, a newcomer who might be powerful enough to unseat the…" here her voice took a decidedly sarcastic twinge. "… reigning champion of our division."

Everyone leaned forward as she muttered her choices name: "Uzumaki Naruto, unseated shinigami of our division."

Unbeknownst to anyone else, Sarutobi, sitting in the back of the room, smirked. 'Well, I know some people who'll be thrilled to hear this." He thought.

* * *

The next day, the entirety of Second Division, all 72 of them, were assembled in the courtyard directly outside of their HQ. Soifon stood in front of them, commanding their attention. "As some of you might remember, It is the time for the all-Shinigami battle royal once again. Both the vice-captain and myself have nominated someone for the final match. Those two will now fight, in plain view of the entire division. The winner will go on to be a participant in the final match." 

A buzz broke out in audience. Naruto, standing towards the rear, overheard some of the others say something interesting. "Soifon-teichou nominated someone! Wow, in the Twenty-Five battle royals I've been here, she's never nominated someone!"

"About time." The first speaker's friend said. "I'm getting sick of that oaf representing us. We're supposed to be one of the best fighting divisions in the Gotei Thirteen! But we always get eliminated first, so we're looked down as the worst fighting team!"

Soifon spoke again, recapturing the audience's attention. "Everyone, clear a circle! When I call the two participants names, the two shall enter the circle, and fight until one concedes or can no longer fight. I have a medic from 4th division standing by, just in case it goes a little too far." The smirk on her face showed that if they didn't require the medic's services, she'd be severely disappointed.

"First, nominated by the vice-captain, Omaeda Marechiyo, we have the unseated Shinigami, and previous entrant in the battle royal, Omaeda Marejirosaburo." A large, fat shinigami entered the makeshift battle circle, a smug look on his face. It was obvious from the way he walked and the loose way he carried his sword that he thought he wouldn't have to fight.

Naruto growled. He'd known these kind of people all his life, and he had hoped they wouldn't exist around here. But here was the standard stuck-up noble, believing he deserved everything handed to him on a silver platter. 'The guy who got picked better wipe the floor with him!' he snarled mentally.

Soifon grinned again. The emotions coming off of her choice were certainly convincing her that she'd made the correct choice. "And my choice," she said. "Is the rookie, unseated Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto stared at his captain. 'She didn't just say what I thought she said, did she?' he thought. But as he registered that everyone was turning to stare at him, he felt the beginnings of a huge smile creep across his face. 'She did.' Flashing a grin, he walked into the circle, easing his Zanpakuto in it's scabbard.

But before he could get to the circle itself, he was stopped the by the familiar hefty form his vice-captain. "Listen, brat." Marechiyo whispered. "If you win this, I will ruin your career, life, and any hope you might have of a future here." Satisfied that he'd threatened the rookie enough to make him lose, the man stepped aside.

With a grimace, Naruto continued his walk to the circle. Of course, the vice-captain was sure he was walking into a loss. But the vice-captain had never met Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto never threw a fight, broke a promise, or looked a gift horse in the mouth. And he had a fight, promised to win the fight, and be given a huge gift.

The two faced off in the center of the circle, Soifon standing off to the side. She raised her hand. "Uzumaki Naruto vs. Omaeda Marejirosaburo in a preliminary match. The winner goes on to the battle royal. Begin!"

Immediately, Marejirosaburo drew his Zanpakuto, which was shaped more like a medieval broadsword then a katana. With a scream, he charged at Naruto, sword overhead. Naruto stared at him incredulously. 'Is this guy really that bad, or is it just an act?' he asked himself as he took two steps to the side, easily avoiding the swipe.

After a few more similar moves, Naruto had decided that it _was _possible for someone to be so bad at fighting with their Zanpakuto. 'How the hell did he make it to be a Shinigami at all, let alone be in Second Division?!' Then he glanced over, and saw the Vice-Captain staring smugly at the two competitors. Something else clicked. 'Hey, he's not that much better then his brother? He got to be vice captain on… what? He's got nothing, no skills, no talent, he has to have shikai, but it can't be a really good one. Damn politics. He's only here cause he's been born into a noble family! At least the Kuchikis earn it! And if you didn't know it, you wouldn't think the Shibas were noble at all!'

With those thoughts boiling in his mind, Naruto came to a decision. Not only was he going to beat the holy hell out of Marejirosaburo, he was going to do it in the most humiliating way possible. He dodged yet another clumsy swing, and summoned his Reiatsu. "Disintegrate, Black Dog of Rondanini. Look upon yourself and burn. Tear away your own throat! Binding Art Nine! Geki!" A bright red light shot out of his palm, connecting squarely with the lumbering behemoth.

"What… the… hell?!" he managed to get out as his muscles froze. Naruto stared at him with a smug smirk of his own. The ninth binding art was one of the weakest ones, and he had chosen it precisely for that reason. Now the moron was immobilized unless he could summon enough Reiatsu to counterbalance Naruto's Kido. And Naruto had put the lowest amount of Reiatsu into the Kido that he could, and still have it work. In other words, Marejirosaburo, he of the really long name, had been stopped with the Kido equivalent of weak flypaper.

"Now that you're done charging around like a rampaging boar, let me do you a favor." After uttering that confusing statement, Naruto finally drew his Zanpakuto. He took a moment to admire the blade, which reminded him of an ANBU katana from Konoha. The sun shone off of the fine reitatsu-forged steel as he drew it back. In five movements so fast that only Soifon and a few other high-rankers could see them, Naruto cut off all of Marejirosaburo's clothes, save his underwear.

"Unless you want me to cut the rest off, which I really don't want to do, you'll concede." Naruto said. Hearing that, several members of the audience took out cameras, smirking. The captain herself was chuckling, but the vice-captain was turning an interesting shade of purple. "You have five seconds. Four Seconds. Three. Two. One. Zer-"

"I give!" the hefty opponent grunted, struggling with the kido. Immediately, Naruto sheathed his sword and began to walk away. The Vice-Captain, however, began screaming.

"CHEATER!" he yelled. "Soifon-teichou, I demand that the victory be awarded to Marejirosaburo, as his opponent just performed the most blatant cheating I've ever seen!"

Soifon raised one eyebrow. "Really, Marechiyo-fukateichou? I must have missed it. What exactly did Uzumaki do that was against the rules?"

At this, Marechiyo stuttered. "He… uh… he used Kido! Demon Arts are specifically against the rules set up by you at the beginning of this very match up!"

"I don't recall saying that." Soifon said. "I only remember saying that the winner would go on to the battle royal. Nothing about how they could fight."

Marechiyo stuttered again, clearly looking for another way to disqualify Naruto. "I'm sure… that match was over time limit! And as Marejirosaburo was clearly winning before the time limit expired, he should be awarded the match!"

"Once again, fukateichou, there was no such rule in place. Besides, I would have to be extremely harsh to use a two and a half minute time limit."

"Well… he did something!"

"Marechiyo-fukateicho, stop this stupidity! Your brother lost fairly, and there was no cheating used whatsoever. Uzumaki goes on to the battle royal. End of Story!" With that, Soifon walked away.

The incident was looked back on for years as one of the few times that Soifon, normally icy captain of the second division, lost her temper in public.

Taking Soifon's leaving as an excuse, Naruto quickly ran after her. The second division began dispersing, glad that someone had finally shut up the annoying noble. That left Marechiyo there, huffing angrily. He stalked away, leaving one person there. "Will… someone… unfreeze me!" Marejirosaburo managed to yell through the Kido.

* * *

Naruto quickly caught up with Soifon, who had started walking sedately again. "Soifon-teichou!" he gasped out. The woman turned on him. 

"Yes, Uzumaki?"

"You never told me when the battle royal was, or what the winner gets."

Soifon blinked. "So I didn't. I apologize. The battle royal is in three days, during which you have off to train. And the winner of the battle royal not only gets the honor of representing his division, he gets one request granted if it is within the power of the Gotei 13." She walked off again, leaving a dazed Naruto alone.

The first thing Naruto did when he recovered his senses was go to the central building, where, sure enough, a list of the preliminary match-ups and the winners were posted. Quickly, he scanned the list. A few matches stood out for him, however.

_6th Division: Abarai Renji vs. Higushi Nomanu. Winner: Abarai Renji_

_10th Division: Durbasha Jurogo vs. Matsumoto Rangiku. Winner: Matsumoto Rangiku_

_11th Division: Madarame Ikkaku vs. Uchiha Sasuke. Winner: Madarame Ikkaku_

Naruto smiled, seeing that two of his three friends had won. The grin slipped when he saw that unfortunately, his best friend hadn't won. No surprise, however. Nomanu and Jurogo were virtual non-entities. They had been in the middle of his academy class, and had gotten through the final exam by the skin of their teeth. However, Ikkaku was a practiced Shinigami, the third seat in his division. Although Sasuke was very talented, he was no match for experience.

Not letting Sasuke's plight drag him down much longer, Naruto ran as quickly as he could to find Renji. "Abarai!" He yelled. "Any ideas on how to unlock Shikai without almost getting killed?"

"Wait five years, then maybe you'll get it." Was the response. When Naruto smacked him upside the head, he groaned and said "Short of putting yourself in a life-threatening place, I'm not sure. Try to get to know it better. It's sentient after all. That might make it easier."

Five minutes later, Naruto was alone in his room in the second division HQ, staring at his Zanpakuto. "So, how're you doing?" he asked the sword. Immediately, he felt stupid. "Of course you can't hear me, you have no ears. So I'll just talk, and hope you understand what I'm saying."

Over the next few hours, Naruto spilled out the details of his life to the piece of Reiatsu-steel that was his Zanpakuto. He told it about Kyuubi, and all the grief the demon fox caused him. He spoke of his childhood at the orphanage, and later on his own. His enrollment in the ninja academy, and his failing. The Mizuki incident, and Iruka-sensei. His assignment to team seven was a high point in his story, but then came the Wave Country, and Zabuza. The chunnin exams, the fight against Gaara, the hunt for Tsunade, they all came next, spilling out of his mouth. Finally, his running after Sasuke and his subsequent death. "Well, then I became a shinigami, and you probably know the rest."

Naruto stared at his sword, then came to a decision. "I'll try meditating." He said out loud, still trying to include his blade in the discussion. "Maybe I'll be able to talk to you then." Assuming the lotus position, placing his blade on his knees, Naruto began to enter the realm of meditation.

'Clear your mind of everything, Naruto.' He thought to himself. 'Focus on one thing, to the exclusion of everything else. Focus on your heartbeat. Beat. Beat. Beat. Beat.' Naruto focused on his heartbeat to the exclusion of everything else. He was so deep in meditation that he didn't even notice someone watching him from outside the room, and they had been for sometime.

Soifon watched her newest (and if she had to admit it, one of her favorite) division members. She had been there since he had started speaking with his sword, spilling the most intimate details about his life to a non-responsive blade. Knowing he wouldn't be doing anything anytime soon, she spun around. She had work to do.

* * *

At the same time Soifon was walking away, Naruto heard a voice. "So, why're your eyes closed, Naruto-kun?" His eyes shot open, taking in the scene around him. 'What the hell?! What am I doing at Ichiraku's?!' he thought furiously. 

"Don't you know anything?" The same voice said, coming from around waist level. "Everyone's inner-self take the image of wherever you think you're the safest. In your case, it happens to be a ramen stand. Unless I'm mistaken, and I'm not, nothing bad has ever happened to you at this ramen stand."

Naruto glanced downwards, and took a deep breath. He blinked once, double checked his sight, then blinked again. Quickly, he surmised that this thing wasn't going away. "Umm… I don't know of more then one talking fox inside my body, and I doubt you're Kyuubi."

The large (waist-high), black talking fox spread its nine tails. "Actually, I am. Well, pieces of me are. The rest is all you."

"Kindly explain." The fox would have raised an eyebrow if it had any. Naruto was taking this remarkably well.

"Duh, I'm your Zanpakuto. I'd tell you my name, but you aren't quite ready to hear it. Well, anyway, have you ever stopped to wonder what happened to Kyuubi when you died?"

Naruto paused, then shook his head. He had been too busy and happy to have friends to wonder what had happened to his inner demon. His Zanpakuto sighed. "I thought so. Well, have you ever seen a fly get hit by a swatter? It's pretty much the same thing. Kyuubi's soul, and he was all soul, was fractured into many little pieces. A few of them connected with you, bonding them with you permanently."

"So my Zanpakuto is made of both my soul, and parts of Kyuubi's soul?"

"Mostly you. Kyuubi's soul only gives me this cosmetic affect, and a giant desire of liking to destroy things. But your soul counterbalances the destroying impulse."

"Ok… so will you ever tell me your name?"

"Oh, yeah. Real soon. But right now, as of this moment, you can't use it. So, I just won't right now. Congrats on getting in contact with me though. I heard your story. Not that I didn't know it already, but it was nice to hear it from the horse's mouth."

"Ok." But as he prepared to leave the meditative state, and his inner world that looked so much like a ramen stand, something dawned on Naruto. "If you're parts of Kyuubi's soul… what happened to the rest?"

The fox looked at him solemnly. "The various pieces are trying to reform. Eventually, they will, minus the pieces I am made of. So in essence, he will become an incomplete soul."

"You mean…"

"Yes. Kyuubi no Kitsune will mutate into a hollow."

* * *

The next day, Naruto was trying frantically to work with his blade. 'If Kyuubi becomes a hollow, it'll be a Menos at the very least. I've got to be ready for it. I've got to be prepared for it.' 

The inner voice he now knew as his Zanpakuto spoke up. 'Seriously, when it happens, it won't happen for a while. So calm down, relax, and prepare for that battle royal of yours.'

Naruto breathed deeply. 'You're right. I'll calm down…'

In his newly peaceful state, he jumped at hearing two light impacts behind him. Spinning around, he spotted Rangiku and Renji straightening up from their landing. "Hey guys." He said. "What's up?"

"We all qualified for the battle royal." Rangiku said, not wasting anytime. "I wanted you to both promise that you won't go easy on me."

"Why would we do that?" Naruto said.

Rangiku flashed him a grin. "Well, you might do it subconsciously. Let's face it, you're the new child prodigy, and Renji is the youngest one to awaken his shikai in years. Sasuke's no slouch either, and it's just bad luck that he didn't qualify for the match. I'm the weakest of the four of us, and you guys might try to hold back to make me feel better."

Naruto nodded. "I can promise that I won't hold back against you."

"Me neither." Renji added in.

"But," Naruto piped up. "Why don't the three of us team up in the match? We're all pretty good, and if we stick together until the end, one of us would definitely win."

Renji and Rangiku thought for a moment. "You know…" Renji said. "That's not a half-bad idea."

* * *

The next two days flew by, bringing them to the day of the fight. The actual fight took place in a large stadium building, with the vast majority of Shinigami there to watch it. Sasuke, watching up from right behind the captain's box, thought 'Don't screw this up, Uzumaki.'. 

Yama rose, presiding over the battle royal. "Now, we shall have the thirteen shinigami battle royal! I am the judge and referee, and my word is law in this matter. The presiding medics are the 4th division Captain Unohana Retsu, Vice-Captain Kotetsu Isane, and 3rd Seat, Kulio Haku!" The three named stood up and bowed, and Naruto jumped a little at seeing Zabuza's old henchman there. Seeing that she'd been noticed, Haku gave a small wink in Naruto's direction.

"Remember, the winner will receive a couple of things. The division shall become known as the best fighters in the Seireitei, and the one who choose the fighter will gain one request of their choosing! Also, the winner himself will also receive a request!"

"Now, the fighters are: from 1st division, Sasakibe Chojiro!" The former Vice-Captain of the third division bowed. It was common knowledge that Chojiro had been ousted from the 2nd seat by Sarutobi, and dearly wanted it back.

"From 2nd division, Uzumaki Naruto!" This was met by cheers from most of second division, a whoop from Sasuke, and a series of boos from the box that held the Omaeda clan.

"From 3rd division…" Yama kept on in this vein, but Naruto stopped listening until he heard "From 6th division, Abarai Renji!" More cheers. Once again, Naruto zoned out, communing with his blade, until he heard "From 10th division, our sole female competitor, Matsumoto Rangiku! From 11th division, Madarame Ikkaku!" Lots of cheers came down for the next ones as well, mostly from their respective divisions.

"Remember, anything goes in this fight. Just try not to kill anyone! Ready… Fight!"

Immediately, three Shinigami drew their blades and screamed out their names.

"HOWL, ZABIMARU!"

"PIERCE, GONRYOMARU!"

"GROW, HOZUKIMARU!"

Renji's blade quickly formed the segmented sword Naruto had seen his form against the hollow. Chojiro's blade warped, twisting into a fencing saber. Ikkaku's blade took the biggest transformation, wielding the blade and scabbard into one large spear. With a battle cry, Ikkaku charged Chojiro, and two of the most powerful in the fight clashed straight off.

Meanwhile, Naruto, Rangiku and Renji formed a triangle, back to back to back. With swipes of Zabimaru, Renji was holding off three others at the same time. With a lightning quick movement, Rangiku slashed one through the spinal cord. That one dropped like a puppet that had had it's strings cut.

Hitsugaya, being one of the best battlers in the soul society, had been picked to provide running commentary. Despite his initial reluctance, he was very good at it. "And Ikkaku and Chojiro are squaring off, shikai vs. shikai. Oh, Chojiro is trying to stop Hozukimaru with his blade. I hope he remembers that that spear is actually the three-sectioned staff and… no, he didn't remember." As he said that, Chojiro had tried to halt Ikkaku's strike by blocking it with the flat of his sword. But when that happened, one section merely swung around it, connecting solidly with Chojiro's skull. "And the 1st division third seat goes down!"

"In case you've missed it, we're down to 11, no make that ten competitors! The team of Abarai, Uzumaki, and Matsumoto has taken out two, and Madarame has removed one himself. And, nice binding Kido by Uzumaki! I understand that's the one he used in the prelims against the incumbent Omaeda, but this time the foe is strong enough to get out of it quickly. But not quickly enough, as Zabimaru takes him through the middle! I hope 4th division gets there fast. Oh wait, that guy was 4th division!"

The battle raged on, fast and furious. Naruto looked around for his next foe frantically, and saw the shinigami from the third and seventh divisions facing off. "Matsumoto!" Naruto yelled, following the agreement that clan names were used in battle. "Cover me!" Rangiku took up a position at Naruto's back, as he started to chant.

"O Lord, Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man, Truth and temperance, Upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! Destructive Art Thirty-Three! Pale Fire Crash!" With a blast, A huge ball of blue flames shot from his finger, impacting the ground right between the battling shinigami. The ensuing explosion shook them off their feet for a moment, but that was all Naruto needed. He focused his Reiatsu into the powers that he could use without an incantation. "White Lightning! White Lightning!" He yelled, shooting two blasts of white electricity towards the disoriented ones. With a sizzling noise and a smell like burnt chicken, the two went down.

"Nice use of Kido by Uzumaki! I understand he enjoys using Kido a great deal. I'm surprised he wasn't put in Ninth Division!" Hitsugaya said gleefully. "That puts us down to seven, with the Shinigami from 2nd, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 13th left." As he spoke, Ikkaku charged another one, slashing him in two. "I take that back, the shinigami from the ninth division has just left the picture."

Renji thought fast for a second. 'I've taken out one, Naruto just got two of his own, and Rangiku took one. That means Ikkaku's gotten the other two, as no one else has eliminated anyone else. But that means Naruto has more kills then me. Gotta change that.' With a powerful swing, the flat of Zabimaru connected with someone's head, putting them deep into la-la land. 'Now we're even."

Rangiku was having similar thoughts. 'These guys are making me look bad! Let's show them that Naruto's not the only one who knows how to use Kido!' "Uzumaki! Watch my back!" With Naruto taking up the rear, she yelled "Heart of the earth, mind of the sky! Reach from the heavens to the hells with your eternal might! Binding art thirteen! Burning Chains!" A pair of red-hot chains shot out, pure manifestations of her Reiatsu. They wrapped around an unsuspecting opponent, causing him to scream in pain as he went down. While that happened, Ikkaku removed the last one that wasn't a member of the triad.

"Pretty good for rookies, you three." Ikkaku said, leaning Hozukimaru against his shoulder. "I challenge you, Abarai, to a one-on-one fight."

"Um… aren't we already fighting?"

"That we are, but only one on one. No interference by your friends there."

Renji hesitated for a brief second. "Deal." With that, he charged into the fray. Naruto and Rangiku watched on.

"We gotta help him!" Rangiku yelled, pulling her Zanpakuto. But she was stopped by Naruto putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No." He said firmly. "He said he'd take this on alone."

Renji swung Zabimaru with powerful strikes, and Ikkaku analyzed them. 'He's not bad.' The bald fighter thought. 'Left, right, then vertical. Left, right, vertical. Left, right… now!' Before Renji could launch his final strike, Ikkaku charged forward. "You fought well." He said, right before Hozukimaru took Renji in the stomach.

Renji fell, healers rushing towards him. Ikkaku dodged to the left, barely avoiding a sudden slash by Rangiku. "Ah, an assassin. And your friend is helping you. Fair enough." He lashed out with Hozukimaru again, but was stopped by a suddenly appearing Naruto, blocking it with his blade. As the head whipped out to take him down as it did with Chojiro, Rangiku placed her blade in it's arc.

"Your teamwork is excellent. You two must be very good friends." Ikkaku said, a huge grin on his face. "You see, I enjoy fighting strong people or strong teams. You two might be a strong team…" wordlessly, Ikkaku removed a portion of his spear. "As individuals, you crumble."

With that, he lashed out at Naruto with one part of his weapon, aiming the bladed one at Rangiku. Both blocked, but without Naruto to stop the hinged portion of Hozukimaru, Rangiku was in trouble. It swung into two sections, as Ikkau had planned, with the bladed end taking Rangiku cleanly through both hamstrings.

Medics rushed to attend her as Naruto faced off with Ikkaku. "You know, you're much weaker without your team, Uzumaki." Ikkaku said, a smile still on his face. With that, he charged, laughing. With a fast move, Naruto dodged. "Ah, you're learning not to block! Good! But too late!"

With a lightning fast move, Ikkaku removed the bladed end of Hozukimaru and launched it at Naruto. Still in midair from his last dodge, there was no way he could move out of the way of it. But he could still block, and moved his Zanpakuto to intercept. "Rookie mistake!" Ikkaku shouted, and swung the newly reconnected parts of Hozukimaru at Naruto's leg.

A crunching sound announced that his ankle had been broken. Yama stood up. "The winner is-"

"NO!" Naruto shouted, bringing everyone to a halt. "I can still fight!"

Yama looked piercingly at the young member of the second division. "If you insist." He muttered, and sat back down, where he had a whispered conference with Sarutobi.

Ikkaku's smile took up half his face now. "You can no longer use Kido, as your leg wouldn't be able to withstand the force of the recoil. Your swordsmanship is no longer usable, for the same reason. I have just practically crippled you, but you refuse the easy way out." With a thought, Hozukimaru shot back together. "So I will give you a warrior's end." With a war cry, he dived back into the fray.

But as he charged, to Naruto's eyes, he seemed to be slowing down. In fact, he froze altogether. When Naruto glanced around, so had everyone else. Everyone had frozen in place, from the pale Sasuke to the pained Rangiku. One thing moved. Naruto glanced down, and saw the familiar fox that was his Zanpakuto.

"Am I ready?" he strained through clenched teeth.

"Answer me this." The fox asked, none of his usual kidding in his tone. "If I gave you my power, what would you do?"

Naruto looked around, his eyes landing on Renji, blood flowing from his stomach as medics patched him up. He saw Rangiku, face contorted in pain as Haku reattached her hamstrings. He saw Sasuke, pale beyond his normal complexion. Finally, he saw his captain, her mouth half open in horror. "I would protect myself, and those precious to me above all else. Plus, I'd fight. Fight a lot."

The fox grinned. "Good answer. But remember, Naruto. I don't give you any powers. I just forge the connection."

Time unfroze, but Ikkaku skidded to a halt as Naruto stood up. "How can you stand?!" the bald one asked. "You shouldn't be able to take that pain!"

"You'd be surprised what I can take." Naruto uttered. Then he held out his sword, and with countless gasps of shock, a blue aura enveloped him.

"You know, I think I just found out my shikai." Naruto said with a grin of his own. "Emerge from the shadows, SHINOBI!"

With that, Naruto's blade morphed. Everything turned into one loop. Then slowly, a few blades emerged, coiled up at one part of the loop. When the blue light died down, Naruto was holding a steel circle with some blades stacked in one section. Ikkaku looked at it quizzically. "I've never seen a sword like that before."

"That's because it's not a sword." Naruto said, grinning now. With a flick of his wrist, the blades rotated around the circle, ending up with four blades total. "It's a Demon Wind Shuriken." With a roar, he charged.

Ikkaku jumped back, on the defensive for the first time in the entire battle royal. Steel rang on steel as he frantically parried the giant shuriken Naruto was swinging around. On the sidelines, Sasuke was beginning to chuckle, as was Zabuza. "Now that's ironic!" Zabuza laughed out.

Ikkaku jumped back, planting himself out of Naruto's reach. "That's an interesting weapon, I'll admit that. It nullifies my Hozukimaru's sectioning ability because it's wide enough to block two sections at once. But that can't be all it can do. What special power does it have?" he asked with a small sneer. All shinigami of the 11th division had a deep disdain for any Kido powers.

"Oh, Shinobi doesn't have any special powers." Naruto said with another smile. But then, his face contorted into concentration as he reached inside himself. He felt for that power that had been lacking for so long, grabbing it with both hands, forcing it towards his right palm, the one without shinobi. 'Power, Rotation, Combination!' he thought.

Naruto held up his right hand, blue light converging on it, forming into a small blue sphere. He looked at it, then back at Ikkaku. "I said Shinobi doesn't have any special powers. It does, however, unlock mine."

* * *

"By Kami." Sasuke said. Soifon turned and looked at the young member of the 11th. 

"What? What is that? What did his sword do?" she asked, firing rapid questions.

Sasuke shut her up with one sentence. "It gave him back his chakra."

* * *

With a cry, Naruto charged Ikkaku. "RASENGAN!" 

Ikkaku, not expecting such a quick attack, barely dodged. His eyes widened as he saw the small, seemingly harmless, blue orb connect with where he had just been standing, and the huge crater left in it's wake. "You must have had some very powerful abilities in life then."

"I did." A voice whispered in his ear. Ikkaku spun around to see another Naruto right behind him. With a swipe of Hozukimaru, the new Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "You shouldn't have turned around." Another voice said, and this time it was accompanied by a blinding pain to the lower back.

The 11th division member went down, and Naruto landed heavily on one leg. Now that the thrill of the chakra and the thrill of the battle had worn off, he was feeling the full affects of the crushing of his ankle. "FUCK!" he screamed in pain. Immediately, Haku was tending to his leg.

"Good job, Naruto-san." The former missing nin said.

Yama stood up. "The winner of the Shinigami battle royal is Uzumaki Naruto, Second Division!" The announcement was met by complete silence.

That was until, still on the ground, Ikkaku began clapping, though it had to hurt. A slow clapping echoed throughout the stadium. Sasuke picked it up next, then Rangiku. Slowly, everyone joined in until the entire stadium (except the Omaeda) where whooping and hollering in support of the winner. 'Just like the chunnin exams.' Naruto thought with a nostalgic smile.

Soifon joined him down on the arena floor. "Are you ok?" she muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Well, I'm not going to faint or anything like that."

"Good."

Yama raised his hands for silence. "The winning division is the 2nd division, a much improved spot from their last place finish last time. Now, both Soifon-teichou and Uzumaki-san get one request. If it's within my power, I shall grant it." He looked expectantly at Soifon.

Her request was somewhat surprising. "I wish a few select members of my division to be investigated as to whether a change in division would be better for them. I have my doubts about whether some of them are qualified for being a Shinigami at all." At this, Marejirosaburo paled.

"It shall be done. Now, Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto looked up at the chief shinigami, all of the other captains and vice-captains, some of the academy students, his friends, Gaara, Temari, Kankurou. Then his eyes locked on his own vice-captain, and the threats made before the preliminary match went through his mind. 'No one threatens Uzumaki Naruto if they can't at least back it up!' he thought angrily. "Yamamoto-sama, I wish to challenge Omaeda Marechiyo for the vice-captainship of my division as soon as I've recovered from my injuries."

An uproar came out of the Omaeda section of the stands, and a huge round of applause shot out of the second division. Yama looked thoughtful. "So granted."

* * *

That was how, in two days time, Naruto found himself facing the generally hated vice-captain of his division on the field of battle. Marechiyo roared "Smash, Gegetsuburi!" His Zanpakuto morphed into a giant ball-and-chain. 

Naruto assumed a battle stance. "Emerge from the shadows, Shinobi!" His own blade mutated into it's form of a Demon Wind Shuriken. With a powerful throw, Shinobi flew from Naruto's hands, severed Marechiyo's Zanpakuto from it's chain, and impacted powerfully on the fat noble's chest.

The medic, standing by for just such an occasion, stopped the fight. Naruto grabbed his resealed blade, and reached down at his foe's sleeve. With a rip, the lieutenant's badge came off, and Naruto placed it on his own sleeve.

Soifon shouted "Winner, Uzumaki-fukateichou!" A thunderous roar came from the assembled second division members. "Uzumaki," she muttered. "Follow me." She pun on her heel, and walked briskly to her quarters. Hurriedly, Naruto walked after her.

Once they were in her room, she asked "So, how do you feel?"

"Honestly, I think that was kind of anticlimactic."

At that, Soifon cracked a smile. "It was, a little. But that's not why I called you here. I always believe that the captain and vice-captain should be able to be seen as a unified front. So when one of us speaks, it's taken as the words of both of us. And for that, we need to know each other. So, start talking."

Naruto sat down, took a deep breath, and began his story. "On the day of my birth, a nine-tailed demon fox attacked my village…"

* * *

A/N: Well, that's all folk. I'm glad you stuck with me until the end. That was also the longest fight scene I've ever written. Tell me how you think it turned out. 

Now, on a pairings note, a vast majority of you have guessed the harem members. They are Soifon, Rangiku, Tatsuki, Orihime, TenTen, and Temari. If you doubt my ability to do that, then... that's your choice. But I have decided one more thing. Some people guessed wrong, but gave very good reasons for their choices. So I am adding a 7th harem member of your choice. You guys vote, and I'll tell you who won next chapter. Your choices are:

From Bleach: Yourichi, Hinamori, Nano, Nemu  
From Naruto: Kin, FemHaku, Ino, Tayuya

Remember, pick one and only one. That's one from both lists. You can't pick both Kin and Hinamori. One. Only one.

Good voting, and all see you in chapter 3!


	3. Daily Life in Soul Society

A/N: Well, something highly unexpected came up during our last poll (besides the huge number of votes, topping any of my other polls). We have a... tie. A tie, at 54 votes a piece, between Hinamori and Yourichi. Highly unexpected. And that leaves me in a bit of problem. I've decided to incorporate both of them, but that leaves us with two Naruto Girls, three shinigami, and one non-shinigami bleach girl (I'm counting Yoruichi as a non-shinigami as she's not on active duty). So I'm having another poll for which Naruto girl you want added. See bottom for options.

Now for common questions/statements: Yes, I royally screwed up when some people eneted the academy. I know Rangiku entered it with Gin, while Renji entered it with Momo and Kira, but... let's face it. I suck at that kinda thing. Remember, this is HIGHLY AU. So, long story short, I messed with it because it worked better for my story. I think that's a good excuse.

Next, there is NO WAY IN HELL Hinata is going into the Harem. For the simple reson that I can't write good NaruHina. Some can, like the most honored Foxie-sama, author of _For the Love of My Friends_, but I am not among them.

For all those who asked about Rukia, she has a breif mention in this chapter, but won't be a major player until chapter six.

This plays out a few years before Cannon Bleach. More on the timeline later (like next chapter).

Sasuke fans, his Shikai is revealed in this chapter. And for all those who thought he got over his jealousy too fast... wait and see.

Finally, for any votes, I'd appreciate it if you gave me the reasoning behind your votes. It gets annoying to open up five reveiws, all consisting of one word (the persons name). That would be vastly appreciated.

This chap is about 5600 words without my A/N, longer then chap one, much shorter then chap 2, but it's all good. See you at the bottom!

* * *

"General, this is an outrage!" Marechiyo shouted. "I have served the thirteen companies faithfully for twenty three years, and now I'm ousted from my hard earned position because some punk got lucky in a fight!? That's completely unreasonable! Pure bias by the captain! I demand you make Soifon-teichou return my position to me, or, you give me the vice-captainship of another division!" 

Yama was chuckling behind his beard. He'd been waiting for this visit for a while. The fact that it had taken over three days for the outraged Omeada to petition the decision was shocking to the old general. But it had come, nonetheless. The noble, outraged at being removed from his position so easily by someone who was so far his junior, was willing to try anything to show up the 'little punk'.

Secretly, the first division captain had been hoping that this exact situation would occur for quite some time now. Ever since the noble families had forced him to take the obese Marechiyo as a vice captain, he'd been itching for an excuse to remove the incompetent man. But no one had been willing to challenge the appointment, for fear that the nobles would use their vast wealth and connections to rid them of the competition.

"Got lucky, Marechiyo-kun?" Yama asked in a wry tone of voice. "By all accounts, he destroyed your shikai, and sent you to the fourth division in under twenty seconds. I can hardly describe that as getting lucky."

The noble puffed up like a frog. "He struck before I was prepared! He should have been disqualified due to going before Soifon-teichou told us to start, but her bias towards him stopped her from making the right decision!"

Normally, Yama was a gentle, wise old man, who took no pleasure in the suffering of others. But while he wouldn't go out to make anyone's life miserable, even this upstart, he would take great pleasure in dealing him a blow when the opportunity had so nicely put itself in front of him.

"I believe Soifon-chan thought you would try something like that. So I have here sworn affidavits from twenty members of the second division, Uzumaki himself, Soifon herself, and the fourth division medic on the scene. They all state the same thing: if anyone started before the call to begin was made, it would have been you. You did, after all, release your sword and attack first."

Marechiyo deflated, and he began doing a rather remarkable imitation of a fish. "But… But" he sputtered.

"I'm sorry, Marechiyo-kun." Yama said, a benevolent smile on his face. "You lost, fair and square. Your request for dismissal and punishment of Uzumaki-san is dismissed. As is your petition for reinstatement. If you wish to reclaim your position, try harder and defeat Uzumaki-san at a later date." With that, the old man spun about and walked off to his next task.

Marechiyo sputtered a little more, then walked off in a huff. "I'll get my position back, Uzumaki. No matter what it takes!"

* * *

At the same time, across the compound, one Uchiha Sasuke was cutting the air with his blade, sparing with himself. But his innocent practice session was the current expression of his emotions: rage, jealousy, and not a little bit of resentment. At first, when Naruto suddenly awoke his Zanpakuto in the middle of a fight, Sasuke had been happy for his friend. After all, that was the only thing that saved him many days in the medical division. 

But after the fight itself, and after Naruto had recovered, the Uzumaki had challenged for the vice-captainship of his division! More then that, he'd won easily! Sasuke, however, had no such luck. He hadn't awoken his shikai! Hell, he hadn't even spoken with his shikai! Not only that, he couldn't even consider challenging Yachiru-fukateichou for her position in the 11th division! Zaraki-teichou himself had placed Yachiru there, and wouldn't allow her to be removed as long as he himself was the captain of one of the toughest divisions in Soul Society.

'I thought I was done being jealous of Naruto!' he screamed in his head as he swiped at the air yet again. 'But no! He's even better here then he was alive! Not only that, he has his chakra back! I want to use my Katon jutsus, my Sharingan, my Chidori! But no, he gets it back and I don't! He gets everything!'

Deep down inside of himself, Sasuke knew why he was truly so angry. In Konoha, he'd been hailed as a prodigy. He'd been given techniques, training, and abilities, hailed as being better then anyone else in his generation! But now, in Soul Society, it was all Naruto. Naruto was being hailed as the prodigy. Naruto was known as the best of their generation! And here, Sasuke was just another face in the crowd. It was role reversal of the worst kind, and that was something Sasuke couldn't live with.

He stared at his sword, shining in the sunlight. "I want to awaken you." Sasuke said to the steel. "I want to be better then Naruto. I want to be stronger then anyone else. The first step to doing that is to learn your name and phrase, and awaken you! So, damn it! Tell me!" Focusing, he began to force Reiatsu into his blade.

As the spirit energy entered the steel, he was met with a shock. A small bird, bright red in color, perched on his shoulder. In a deep voice, it said "No! You're not ready for it! You cannot handle my power!"

Sasuke growled. "Of course I can! I just need to know how to access it!"

The bird shook its head a little. "It seems not even death can cure some tendencies. Fine! I'll tell you who I am, and how to unleash me, but on your own head be the consequences!"

A burst of knowledge entered Sasuke's mind. "Don't do it!" the voice yelled again. But Sasuke paid it no heed, caught up in the feeling of becoming as good or better then Naruto.

"Rise from the Ashes, **_Shinkufenikkusu_**! (Scarlet Phoenix)" he screamed. In answer to his call, the blade of his Zanpakuto… melted. The blade totally evaporated, leaving only a hilt in Sasuke's hands. He barely had a minute to wonder 'What the hell!' when a giant phoenix erupted from the empty hilt.

"HAH!" He yelled. "Take that, Uzumaki!" But his elation turned to horror as the giant fiery bird flapped its wings. A fan of fire shot out of them, lighting parts of the courtyard on fire. Focusing all his reiatsu, he tried to make the sword go back into its sealed state.

The bird turned and hissed at him. "_I told you that you could not contain my powers!_" it shouted, and with a roar unlike the bird shape it was in, proceeded to light the room on fire. A crash announced that he was no longer alone in the room, as two figures pushed their way into the room.

"What the hell!" Zabuza exclaimed, looking at the inferno raging around the room. It was only a matter of time before it consumed the entire eleventh division compound! There was no water available at the moment, but there were alternatives. "Aramaki!" He yelled at his companion. "Head to 10th division and get Hitsugaya-teichou over here! We need the best water Zanpakuto available! I'll hold it here!" Zabuza spun around, and faced the fire.

"Decapitate, **_Kiri Houcho_**! (Mist Cleaver)" he yelled, his sword reforming into an exact match of the one he had wielded while alive. Focusing, he began using his Shikai's special power, turning his Reiatsu into mist. With a sizzle, some of the smaller fires went out. But the large one raged on, strong as ever.

"What the hell did you do?!" Zabuza yelled, swinging his sword rapidly. As the massive blade swung, gouts of mist flew, further dampening the fires. A hissing sound erupted, and more of the small fires were extinguished. A large phoenix cry erupted from the center of the inferno, its sheer force driving the demon of the mist back.

Sasuke swung his head from left to right, trying frantically to make out any shape within the sheets of fire that took up his vision. "I-I don't know!" The usually collected Uchiha yelled. "I can't control it!"

Zabuza sighed. It happened every year. Some new graduate forced his shikai into being revealed, making it impossible to control. "Try to hold on, Uchiha!" he screamed. "The only thing we can do now is contain it until someone powerful enough to extinguish it gets here!"

A calm voice from directly behind Zabuza said "I assume this is why you called me?" The demon of the mist glanced over his shoulder, and with a sigh of relief, saw Hitsugaya Toushiou gazing at him calmly.

"Hitsugaya-teichou! Uchiha released his shikai prematurely! Mine isn't strong enough to contain it!" Zabuza gasped out, the effort of holding his mist in play taking a toll on him.

Hitsugaya shook his head. "Why is it always the fire based ones who do this?" He wondered out loud, looking up at the sun. With a sigh, he reached onto his back and pulled his Zanpakuto out of its wrapping, then slowly eased it from its sheath. "Momochi-san, I suggest you move." Needing no further warning, Zabuza darted backwards, taking his mist with him.

"You have a strong shikai!" Hitsugaya said, calling out to be heard over the now-roaring flames. "Once you manage to control it, you'll no doubt rise to vice-captain at least. But for now, you must be stopped." With that, Hitsugaya launched himself into the air. "Reign over the frosted heavens, **_Hyorinmaru_**! (Ice Ring)" he screamed.

A whoosh of cold air and a darkening of the clouds announced the arrival of Hyorinmaru, the most powerful water based Zanpakuto in Soul Society today. Water, shooting out of the blade, arched away from the sword, taking on the shape of a frozen ice dragon. With a cry, Hitsugays swung his blade down, sending the frozen dragon down to do battle with the phoenix of fire.

With a cry from the phoenix and a hiss from the dragon, the battle was joined. But a giant hissing sound moments later alerted the two standing there that the battle was over. The dragon had melted, and the water it left behind had been more then sufficient to quench the powers of Sasuke's Shinkufenikkusu. Hitsugaya landed on his feet, looking over at the sputtering Uchiha, who was now shivering in place.

"I take it that you've learned your lesson about unlocking Shikai before they were ready?" Hitsugaya asked. Numbly, Sasuke nodded. "Good." The 10th division captain spun on his heel, walking sedately back towards his own division compound. "Oh, and you might want to head to 4th division. We wouldn't want you to get frostbite."

Hearing that, Zabuza walked out from his hiding place and grabbed hold of Sasuke by the back of his uniform. "Ok Uchiha, let's head to get you patched up while I regale you with stories of what I'll do to you if you EVER do that again." Sasuke could only shiver as he was dragged towards 4th division.

* * *

A month later, Sasuke had still not tried to call upon the powers of his Zanpakuto again. After some good natured teasing, Naruto had left the matter alone, preferring to boost Sasuke's ego again by telling him how cool his sword was (though he secretly thought Shinobi was better). And when Sasuke had recovered enough from his chilling escapade, Naruto called him to a meeting. 

But the meeting was not just the two of them alone. It held everyone that used to be a ninja that was now a shinigami that Naruto knew about: Sasuke, Zabuza, Haku, Naruto himself, and the Third Hokage. He would have invited the sand siblings, but they were forbidden from leaving the academy unless a dire emergency came up. Besides, Naruto wasn't sure how useful they would have been in this situation anyway.

"Ok, guys." The Vice-Captain said. "I'm in a bit of a jam here. As you all know, the powers of my Zanpakuto allow me to access my chakra once again. But the fact remains that no matter how much chakra I can get, I only have so many techniques. Mine extend to basic taijutsu, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Rasengan, and a good Henge. I haven't tried Kuchyose yet, because I really have no idea what would happen."

Sandaime sat there, nodding. "So basically, you've assembled all of the people here who knew any jutsu in life, in hopes of them teaching you how to do it?"

"Pretty much. I know they really can't demonstrate because they don't have chakra, but I've been pretty good at figuring things out without proper instruction before. If they can tell me the seals, and the focus they need to do, I can pretty much figure out the rest of it from there."

Zabuza stood up. "Well, let's give it a test run. Kirigakure no Jutsu is one of the simplest techniques I know. If you can pull it off from the description I give you, I'll teach you the rest." Naruto nodded eagerly. "The seals were Monkey, Boar, Ram." While naming the seals, he demonstrated them with his own hands. Naruto was quick to follow.

"Now, while holding ram, you have to visualize a bank of mist wafting from under your feet. It works best around water, but it'll work anywhere. Imagine the mist coming out, then covering you in a shroud. Then, send it outwards." Naruto hastily began to mimic instructions. Monkey, Boar, Ram. Monkey, Boar, Ram then visualize. With a muttered phrase, his sword entered the form of the Demon Wind Shuriken, allowing Naruto access to his vast wells of chakra.

As he visualized, he poured a little chakra into the jutsu. When he opened his eyes, he saw the room and the people staring at him expectantly. Not the white banks of mist he wanted. Naruto tried again, adding a little more chakra. Still no change. Frustrated, Naruto shoved more chakra into the jutsu. A huge gout of mist shot out from under him, encircling the entire room. "A little too much." Naruto said, and quickly downed his output. When he was done, a light layer of mist obscured everyone in the room from view.

"Um…. Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked. He had decided to stop the nicknames and mild insults now that Naruto could easily have him court marshaled for them. "How did you get such good chakra control? I mean before, it completely sucked!"

Naruto smiled. "You see, the focusing for Reiatsu and Chakra are very similar. One is the essence of life, and the other is the essence of death. And as I've spent so much time trying to perfect my Retatsu control for certain Kido, my chakra control has gotten proportionally better."

"While this is all very interesting," Sandaime said. "Could you by any chance dissipate the mist?" Apologizing, Naruto had the mist vanish. "That's good enough for me to teach you. It's not like I could teach anyone else here." Zabuza, Haku, and Sasuke nodded their agreement.

* * *

So the next year passed, with Naruto easing into his Vice Captain position while training with all of the former ninja in learning their jutsus. Unsurprisingly, Sasuke was the first to run out of things to teach him. The Uchiha had only known seven or eight jutus at the time of his death, and had never been interested in finding more later. 

Haku was the next to run out of things. Her water techniques nicely counterbalanced the fire ones Sasuke had taught him. But that wasn't the extent of her knowledge, as it seemed Zabuza had drilled medical jutsu into her at a young age, giving her an innate understanding of healing that few could match, and Naruto was now the recipient of that knowledge.

Zabuza was done soon after Haku. It seemed that he'd taught his apprentice most of what he'd known when he was alive, and Haku had already passed that on. But a couple more powerful techniques hadn't found their way to Haku (Surprisingly, he even knew one Raiton jutsu), and they found their way into Naruto's hands as well.

At the end of the year, only Sandaime was still training Naruto in jutsu. After all, he knew literally thousands of them. Soon enough, seeing as they both had vice-captain duties to see to, he took to writing down the instructions for ten jutsu a week and leaving them with Naruto. Slowly but surely, his knowledge increased, expanding to cover jutsu of all the elements.

One day, Naruto was practicing in an empty courtyard. The Doton jutsus that Sandaime had sent him were very effective, if hard to use. Because as he practiced, Naruto realized one thing: he had absolutely no talent in earth jutsus. All the others he could pull of with the smallest amount of practice and a little bit of chakra training, but the Doton jutsus were a pain in his side. He moved his hands in the seals. "**_Doton: Maruishi Meiunn! _**(Earth Style: Boulder Doom)" He yelled, and a large rock shot out of the ground. "No!" He screamed, kicking at the rock. "You're supposed to be a boulder! A BOULDER!" Releasing his temper, he kicked the rock.

The messenger that had just arrived was now treated to the sight of Uzumaki-fukateichou, youngest vice-captain in history, polite and dignified man in public, hopping up and down on one foot, screaming the worst curse words he could think of. The man quietly cleared his throat. Immediately, Naruto spun around and faced him. "Yes?" He asked, his voice so calm that the messenger almost thought he'd been imagining things.

"Uzumaki-fukateichou, you've been summoned to the academy. It is my understanding that today is the exhibition day, with a few of the vice-captains putting on a demonstration of shikai for the cadets."

Naruto nodded. "I'll head over there now." Taking the time to grab a fresh cloak and to bathe in the bathtub in his own private bathroom, he headed over towards the academy. When he got there, he joined a group of three other people. One was Renji, who recently became the first vice captain of 6th division in years. The second was Izuru Kira, the vice-captain of the 3rd division. And rounding off their group was Hinamori Momo, the vice-captain of the 5th division.

"Glad to see you could finally make it, Uzumaki." Renji said, smirking. He was immediately cuffed on the back of his head by both of the others. Hinamori glared for at the redhead for a minute, then turned to Naruto.

"So sorry, Uzumaki-dono." She said. "Renji-kun could never mind his manners."

Naruto bit back a chuckle. "Don't worry about it, Hinamori-dono. I was never much on politeness, and besides, Renji and I have known each other for too long to worry about things like that. Behind her back, Renji stuck his tongue out, only to be hit again by Kira. "Just call me Uzumaki or Naruto or whatever you feel like."

Hinamori looked hesitant for a moment, then said "Whatever you say, Naruto-san. Maybe after this is over we can get together for some tea and talk."

The blonde nodded at his fifth division counterpart. "Well, whatever you want Momo-chan." Naruto spun around and began conversing with Renji before she could do more then turn bright red at the familiar form of address.

Moments later, the four were in front of the assembled academy students. Kira, having been designated this duty, stepped forward. "Hello. We are the vice-captains of the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th divisions of the Gotei 13. We are all capable of Shikai, the…" As Kira launched off into a spiel about Shikai, what they were, and how they did it, Renji leaned over to Naruto.

"Good job man!" He said, giving a subtle (if you can call Renji subtle) thumbs up. "I've been trying to get her to go out with me for months, and you just walk up to her and she invites you! You sly dog!" He nudged and winked his friend, then went back to feigning attention.

Before Naruto could gather a rebuttal, he heard Kira yell "Raise your head, **_Wabisuke!_** (Apology)" His sword turned bright blue, then reshaped into a hook. "This is Wabisuke, my Zanpakuto. He has the special power of making things heavier. If he hits something, it immediately becomes doubled. It's highly unusual, and extremely useful."

Kira stepped back, and Momo stepped up to take his place. "As Kira-kun already mentioned, I'm Hinamori Momo, vice-captain of the fifth division. My shikai is not nearly as complex as Kira-kun's, but it does have its… advantages." She held her sword out in front of her. "Snap, **_Tobiume! _**(Flying Plum Tree)" she cried, and immediately her sword reacted. Various prongs shot out of it at different angles, leaving her basic blade untouched. With a cry, a pink blast of energy shot out of the point, leaving a gaping hole in the academy ceiling. Blushing slightly at the shocked looks students were giving her, she backed up next to Kira."

Renji's performance went quickly, showing off the stretching powers of his Zabimaru. But he puffed up angrily when one brave academy student asked why his didn't have any special powers like Kira's or Momo's. Giving an explanation about advantage in battle, he was about to strike the cadet down when Naruto stopped him with a not-so-subtle kick. A growling Renji took his place again.

Naruto was the final one to step forward. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Vice-Captain of the 2nd division." He said. "And my Zanpakuto is unique because it doesn't give me any special abilities. It connects me with those I could control in life." He shot a glance at the sand siblings, smiling as they shot identical smirks back. "So, without further ado, emerge from the shadows! **_Shinobi! _**(Ninja)" His blade melted into the familiar shape of the Demon Wind Shuriken.

The same sneering academy student stood up. "So, what's so special about a big throwing star? It's more worthless then redhead's snake thing!" But instead of getting pissed, Naruto smirked.

"What's so special?" He asked in a sing-song voice. "Why it lets me do this!" The annoying student found himself picked up by a Shadow Clone, and tossed towards the front. Waiting there was yet another clone, who caught the boy in mid air before firing him back to the first one. Quickly, the two found themselves embroiled in a game of catch with the annoying punk.

With a hiss, Shinobi eased back into its sealed state. It took the shadow clones with it, making the boy fall into a heap on the ground. "And that concludes our demonstration. I hope you learned something." With that, Naruto led the other vice-captains out of the building.

The next hour was taken up by some tea at a local café with Momo. Afterwards, Naruto had learned one thing very clearly: the girl was absolutely devoted to her captain. So much so that it was scary. She would probably stop breathing if Aizen-teichou said to, and be happy to do it. Naruto resolved to talk with one of the other captains about it as soon as possible.

* * *

A week later, Naruto walked into his quarters. As the second division vice-captain, he had been given roomy quarters, with four undesignated rooms, a fully equipped bedroom, and an attached bath. As he walked into his bedroom, hanging Shinobi up on a peg, he stopped dead. Rangiku was sitting there, meek as could be, staring at him. 

He grinned. This thing had happened occasionally. When one of them just needed to talk to each other about anything, they always found themselves on the others doorstep. Naruto had frequently walked in on the well-endowed shinigami changing, but she had merely sat down as she was and asked what was wrong. Likewise, it was common for her to see him coming out of the shower, without a towel, but he had just dropped into a chair right in front of her.

So now, it wasn't a big shock. The reason he was surprised is that he couldn't think of a reason for her to be here right now. Nonetheless, he dropped into a chair across from her as usual. "So, Rangiku-chan, what's up today?"

Rangiku looked across at him, none of her usual humor in her eyes. "Naruto-kun… I have a big problem." She leaned across the table, whispering in his ear as if she was afraid someone would hear her. "I… I really need release."

Naruto grinned a little. Release for a shinigami meant one thing: Sex. Lots and lots of sex. Being a shinigami, slaying Hollows, and dealing with daily chores built up stress and tension easily. Physical, mental and emotional, all of those kinds of tension built up within the shinigami. They received physical from all the work put into training and slaying. They received mental tension from planning strategies, working to accommodate so many things. Finally, they received quite a lot of emotional tension from seeing people get sent to hell by their swords. Sex, and lots of it, was the best and only way to release the tension that built up without going crazy.

"Oh, ok. I'll look around and see if I can find you someone that you can stand." He moved to get up, but was stopped by Rangiku clinging to his arm.

"No, you misunderstand me. I need YOU to help me with release."

Now, Naruto was surprised. "Wh-what?!"

"You're the only one I can really trust! Any other shinigami will just go to their friends and brag about it! I know, I've heard them talk! You can't and won't, because your friends are my friends! Besides, you wouldn't anyway. Out of the three of you, I don't want to ask Sasuke, and Renji's just creepy with all his tattoos. Besides, he's hung up on his Kuchiki girl." It was common knowledge that Renji had a gigantic crush on Kuchiki Rukia, a shinigami from their graduating class that the rest of them had never known that well. "Please, Naruto?"

Naruto looked down at her, clinging to his hand. All her reasons were valid, and besides, he knew he needed release soon as well. And he probably would have wound up one the doorsteps of one of four people. The first was Soifon, and that wouldn't work out. He liked his captain a lot, and sometimes thought he had deeper feelings for her, but interdivision relationships were frowned upon in the Soul Society.

The next was Hinamori. That wouldn't work for the simple fact that she was obsessed with her captain. Though he was making steady progress with her. Last time they had tea together (which they had taken to doing daily), she had only mentioned Aizen-teichou twice, instead of the usual five. Plus there was the fact that Hitsugaya-teichou would kill him.

The third was Temari. He doubted that her family would mind if she didn't, and Gaara seemed to like him a lot. But there was always the fact that screwing an academy student was looked upon harsher then interdivision relationships. And there was always the possibility that she hadn't gotten lectured on the needs of Shinigami yet, and would slap him for being a pervert.

The last was in front of him, on her knees, begging him to help her. Helping her would also help himself. There was the fact that she was drop dead gorgeous, and the not-so-small possibility that she would go crazy if he didn't help her now. If she had been reduced to this state already… "Ok, Rangiku-chan. I'll help you."

* * *

The next few years passed in a blur to Naruto. He and Rangiku screwed around maybe once a week, he had tea with Hinamori daily, had his vice-captain duties, he trained, Hollow hunted, and still spent time with his friends. He even oversaw the graduation of the current crop of academy students (Gaara was put into his division, with Kankurou in third and Temari in seventh). But his normal routine was going to be put on hold for a while. 

Soifon called him to her office one day. "Naruto, I'm sorry to say, that Yama has decreed that you will go on a mission. Not just any mission, a long term one. It appears that the Omaeda family is still not happy about you taking the Vice-Captain's spot, and threatened to remove all of their funding unless you were sent on a long mission."

Naruto sighed. "Well, we knew it was coming. Just give me a day to tie up loose ends and go on one more hunt before I have to go. So, where am I headed?"

"Well, there seems to be a town, Karakura, which has an abnormally large concentration of Reiatsu-gifted people. And where there's large amounts of Reiatsu, there's a good amount of hollows converging on it. So you'll go to defend the town for a few months, come back, and that will be the end of these shenanigans."

"What's my cover?"

"You're a high school student. We've faked up some good grades for you, and you've 'transferred' in from our front school. Most of the gifted people seem to be teens, so you'll have to guard them closely."

Naruto nodded. As he moved to get up, a beeping on his hip stopped him. Glancing down, he peered at his Reiphone. "Well, this is a good time for my last hunt. A hollow just popped up in Antarctica." To the shock of Naruto in geography class at the academy, he discovered that the elemental villages were actually contained within Antarctica, with powerful genjutsu making it seem to be a barren, frozen wasteland.

"Good hunting, Uzumaki-fukateichou." Naruto stuck his sword in the air, and was gone.

Once he hit the ground, he took a moment to inhale the familiar scents of home. He'd missed Konoha, even though it was much nicer up in Soul Society. Glancing around, he spotted the hollow. This one was shaped like a giant owl. With his favorite overhand slash, he knocked it out of commission.

But with that over, he got a chance to look at what the hollow had been attacking. It was a group of people. Seven to be exact. Feeling his jaw drop, he landed in front of the group. "WHY ARE YOU DEAD?!" he screamed.

The seven people stared at him, and all obviously decided to file question away for later. "Old age." Tsunade said.

"Same." Jiraya said with a nod.

"Someone firebombed our shop." Ichiraku Ayame said, with her father behind her.

"Ambush on our mission." Neji uttered, Gai, Lee and Ten-Ten behind him.

Naruto sighed. "I'll just konso your asses, and let the tour guide worry about you." He did just that, not knowing that one Sandaime Hokage had taken over Zabuza's job for the day.

Shaking off his shock, he reentered Soul Society. With heavy steps, he walked over to Rangiku's quarters. "You're early this week!" She said with a dazzling smile, letting him in. Naruto shook his head.

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be on a long term mission for a few months. So you're going to have to find another source for a bit. If you want, I'm sure I could make one of my friends help you."

Rangiku's smile slipped a bit, before she hastily shoved it back on. "Oh, I'll find something." She said with a wave of her hand. "I'll look forward to your return!" Naruto grinned, patted her familiarly on the shoulder, and walked out the door. It was good that he made such a timely exit, as she felt the beginnings of a tear well up. "I'll miss you…" she whispered to the empty air.

* * *

The next day, Naruto walked over to 12th division to acquire a gigai (temporary body). One of the underlings met him. "Here's your gigai, Uzumaki-fukateichou. It's programmed to contain the knowledge you'll be needing for your cover. And here's your supply of temporary Gikongan. Each one is set to record your basic knowledge and personality, so no one will be likely to miss you." 

Naruto nodded, jumping right into his gigai, and pocketing the pills. He turned, and saw his friends. Momo waved at him, wishing him luck. Renji clapped him on the back, nodding respectfully. Sasuke grinned, while telling Momo that Naruto didn't need luck. Rangiku was conspicuously absent, but Soifon was there, and bowed her respect. Finally, Gaara stood there. Naruto walked over to him.

"Look after them while I'm not here." He told his unofficial lieutenant. Soon after Gaara had graduated, he had attached himself to Naruto. Naruto had never gotten a straight answer why, but from hints from Temari and Kankurou, he had gathered that Gaara had been slowly slipping into insanity since Naruto had been killed. Now that Naruto was back, Gaara had no intention of losing his best friend again. The red headed shinigami nodded.

"Nothing will happen to them." He said, still monotonously. Naruto grinned, gave them all one quick thumbs up, and stuck his sword in the air. With a flash of light, he was gone.

* * *

A/N: And that was chap three! I hope you guys liked. Seriously, I can imagine that being a shinigami is a huge, stressful job. And the best way to remove stress? I think I just explained that to you.

Ok, now for the second poll. This is solely for the third Naruto girl. The reason I'm not just giving you the winner of the last poll is I think that the others would like a chance to vote in this one as well, not just those who voted for Naruto girls only. So you know, FemHaku narrowly won over Ino, with Tayuya in third and Kin being dead last. The girls I'm going to give you the options of are the same as last time:

FemHaku  
Ino  
Tayuya  
Kin

Good luck, see you in chapter 4: Karakura!


	4. Karakura

A/N: Well, it has been a couple week, hasn't it! I'm so sorry for the wait, but it was worth it! I managed to plan out every single chapter for this story! So I now know how one of my stories will end! (It's a first for me).

The poll winner is Ino, by a very slim margin. I know some people don't like her, but I hope you'll continue reading despite that.

A fair number of you thought I was going to make Naruto take Rukia's place. While that's an idea, it wasn't at all where I was going with it. Nice guess though. But anyway, here's chapter 4! Enjoy!

* * *

Naruto shook his head, shaking off the daze that interdimensional travel gave him. 'Instead of wasting so much time trying to dissect corpses, you should be trying to make an easier way of travel!' he thought, mentally cursing the 12th division captain. Taking a quick inventory of his pockets, he discovered a tube labeled Soul Candy, full of the artificial one-shot souls to operate his gigai. The other pocket contained a single piece of paper with his mission specs. Quickly, he walked to the address on the sheet, and pushed open the door. 

His living space for the next kami-knows-how-long was simple. It was a three room apartment in a mostly empty complex. There was a bed, a bath, and a living room/kitchen. Cracking his neck, he took a seat. 'Oh, when I get back, I'm killing the Omaedas!' he thought. 'They didn't even give me a place with cable!'

Leaning back, he accessed the gigai's brain. There, at least, the job had been done satisfactorily. There was knowledge of all the subjects he was going to be taking at the mortal school, so he wouldn't have to do much work other then kill hollows. For some people, a long term mission away from Soul Society was a vacation, a chance to get away from the whiteness and monotony. With a chuckle, he wondered how the people he had just sent on would take Soul Society.

* * *

At that very moment, Sarutobi was on the verge of pulling his hair out. Some stupid soul reaper had just visited the settlement on Antarctica (as the elemental nations was known), and passed on eight very annoying people. Each was a trial in their own way. Tsunade and Jiraya had taken one look at him, and immediately latched on to him, refusing to let go.

The two Ichirakus were annoying a very different way. Both were sitting there docilely, hanging on his every word. It was a symptom that the good civilians got when being around the hokage. Unfortunately, most of his words at the moment were curses, yelling for his students to get off of him.

Team Gai was a whole different matter. Ten-Ten and Neji were just sitting there, shaking their heads in exasperation. It was the other two who were the most difficult of the bunch. Somehow, they had made their plain white robes skin-tight, and were doing their best to turn them green. "AND IF LEE DOESN'T FINISH ADAPTING THE STYLE OF BREAKDANCING INTO TAIJUTSU, I SHALL TOUCH MY NOSE WITH MY TONGUE WHILE STANDING ON MY HANDS!"

Sarutobi had no idea how they had gotten to that point. It had started with Lee asking where they were.

* * *

Oblivious to his former leaders plight, Naruto rolled over. It was time to get some sleep before his first day of school as a mortal. Well, school when it didn't involve kunai and the ten best ways to decapitate a rock ninja.

School without those things, Naruto discovered, was going to be a real bore. Without constant threat of death, all it this school was about… talking. There were occasionally lecture days at the academy, but at least then, they were interspersed with jutsu practice. Here, they had to take notes, and they were given written tests on everything instead of practical tests. Though that made sense, as it was pointless to administer a practical test on the values of prime numbers.

As he already had all the knowledge he needed programmed into his gigai, Naruto used his senses to detect powerful sources of spirit energy. To his surprise, a great number of them were in this very room with him. In the guise of looking out the window, he glanced at each of those exuding large amounts of power.

The first was, to be quite frank, the biggest student that Naruto had ever seen. He towered over all of the others, and the pencil he was using to take notes looked like a twig in his hands. The boy was clearly of Mexican decent, and had hair covering one of his eyes. 'Hmm… his energy is wild, unfocused. Unless a catalyst comes into play, he shouldn't even be able to see spirits.'

The next source equaled the large boy in power, but she was half his size. She had long, orange-brown hair, which was one of her most obvious features. The second was her generously proportioned chest. 'Hmm… in a few years, she could rival Rangiku-chan.' Naruto thought. 'She's pretty enough but-' He interrupted that train of thought by mentally slapping himself. 'Anyway, her energy's just like the other guys. She needs a catalyst.'

The following source was sitting directly next to the nicely proportioned girl, gazing out the window. She had spiky black hair, and from what Naruto could see, a couple of calluses on her knuckles. 'Well, her energy is more focused then the others, and she's on the verge of being able to see the spiritual entities. But she still needs a catalyst to awaken her powers, though a smaller one then the others.'

The next was another boy, this one with black hair and glasses. As Naruto scanned his energy, the boy glanced over his shoulder at Naruto, sensing something going on. But Naruto had his energy well cloaked, appearing to be nothing more then an ordinary high school student. 'This is unexpected.' He mused. 'This one's actually awoken his powers. And from the pattern, it looks like he's a Quincy. You don't see many of those these days. I'll have to remember to keep out of his line of sight when I transform.'

Naruto glanced around, one more time. There was only one more power source, though this one dwarfed all of the others in the room. It was coming from a boy with orange hair, who otherwise was identical to Vice-Captain Kaien Shiba. 'Well, he can certainly see us. And possibly touch us as well. He's got a shitload of power. But it hasn't been focused yet. He doesn't appear to have any special abilities other then sight. But, holy hell, that's a lot of power!'

Just then, the bell rang, interrupting his musings. Stretching, he got up. His peaceful thoughts were interrupted by a loud squeal of "LUNCH!" and the big-boobed girl he'd spied on earlier shot out of the room, dragging the black haired girl with her. Shaking his head, grinning, he grabbed his lunch and moved outside.

The only productive thing that happened at all during lunch was he learned the names of all the people he'd been looking at. The Mexican was Chad. The guy with glasses was Uryu. The big boobed girl was Orihime, and her tough friend was Tatsuki. And the reiatsu factory with orange hair was named Ichigo. After lunch, he slept until the bell rang again, then headed to his temporary living quarters (as he liked to call his apartment).

Naruto had been planning on staying isolated in this long term assignment, leaving no roots so he wouldn't disturb anyone at all when he was transferred back to Soul Society. He would simply be known as 'that kid who sat in the back of the room for a few months'. But like all of the best-laid plans, they went wrong.

If he had been able to squash his nature at all, leave everything alone, he would have been able to follow through with his plan. Naruto would have been able to stay alone for who-knows-how-long. But all that changed when he was walking back to his apartment from school.

There was the sound of flesh meeting flesh, and Naruto turned towards it. A large teen was beating the hell out of a much smaller one, heedless of his victim's crying for help. A sadistic smirk was on the aggressor's face, taking pleasure in pain he was giving. 'I hate bullies!' Naruto thought, and before he could change his mind, he was next to the bully, holding his fist back.

"You bastard!" The bully said, cocking his other fist at Naruto. "I'll teach you to interrupt me when I'm in the middle of something!" His other fist shot at the blonde shinigami. To anyone else, that fist would have appeared fast. But to the shinobi turned shinigami turned student, it was childishly slow. A hand motion later, and Naruto was holding both of the bully's fists. With a twist, both of the arms were being held behind the bully's back, painfully.

Naruto grinned. "So, you like picking on others, do you? Well, my friend would like to have a few words with you. Asshole, this is my friend, Mr.-" Before he finished his sentence, Naruto shoved the bully so hard that he connected with the brick wall in front of him with an audible thunk, and went down bleeding. "Wall." He finished.

The sound of slow clapping behind him made Naruto spin, hands instinctively going into a defensive position. But it wasn't another assailant, it was the girl with black hair from class. Tatsuki, he reminded himself. "Nice job." She said admiringly. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone kick his ass like that. He was getting to be a real pain, always attacking someone. We could never prove it either." Noticing that Naruto still hadn't relaxed his stance, she grinned. "Oh, you practice karate? Don't think I've ever seen that style either. I'm Tatsuki, and you are?" Behind him, Naruto heard the kid he just saved scamper off.

Finally, Naruto slipped out of his defensive stance. "Naruto." He said, cursing the loss of his anonymity. "I think you're in my class."

She nodded. "I thought I saw someone new in class today. So, you practice karate? How long've you been doing it? Are you any good? What's that style called? How long've you been in town? Where do you live?"

Naruto smirked at her interest. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that. I've been practicing since I was born, and I like to think I'm pretty good. The style is called Konoha Taijutsu. I've been in town about a day now. I live by myself in an apartment. My hair is naturally blonde. I weigh exactly 67.3 kg. These things on my face are birthmarks. My weight is mostly muscle, no fat. I'm 6 feet, 3 inches tall. Oh, and I measure exactly eight and ¾ inches, incase you wanted to know."

Tatsuki turned bright red at his mater-of-fact recitation off all the questions she had asked, some she hadn't, and a few she had secretly been curious about. "I really didn't want to know that." She managed to get out.

'Aww… I made the tough girl blush!' he thought. "Well, I really have to get home now." He said.

"Before you go, I wanted to invite you to the Karate Club tomorrow. You'd fit in great. Plus, I want to see your actual style in action, not just one stance of it."

Naruto shrugged. He'd already been noticed, so what could the harm be. It would give him something to do when he was bored. "Why not."

* * *

The next day, Naruto thought, would be just like the one before it. He would show up, doze off in the back of class, and head home. Only this time, he would kick someone's ass between the time he left school and the time he got home. But fate (more accurately, Tatsuki) had something else in store for him. The moment he had walked in the classroom, he had found himself being dragged to a new seat.

Before he even had time to comprehend that he was now inside, Naruto was seated in the dead center of the class. Directly to his left was the girl whose fault it was that he was there. Tatsuki smirked and winked, letting him know that she knew exactly what she'd just done and was enjoying his suffering. To his right was Chad, still very, very large.

And as Naruto began to lay his head down to sleep, the Teacher decided to call on him. "Umm… Uzumaki! So, why would crossing these elements together in a literary story be a bad idea?"

Naruto glanced back up at the board, where she had a list of stories and television shows from popular culture on the board. "Aside from many copyright infringements without a proper disclaimer, crossing together…" He picked two at random. "Harry Potter and Power Rangers would be a terrible idea. They have none of the same points, so it's impossible to find something that would be a common ground for them. The only things that would alleviate that are the popular 'Alternate Dimension' theory, which I hate, and something as cliché as a trip from England to America." With that, Naruto put his head back on the desk.

Everyone stared at him. The new kid had just given a reasonable response to a completely stupid question. Of course Power Rangers and Harry Potter shouldn't be put together! But he had managed to think of a reason for it, other then it was just plain stupid. Frustrated, the teacher grabbed an eraser and chucked it at Naruto's head.

A quick gesture later, Naruto had caught the eraser, returned it to the exact spot from where the teacher picked it up, all without picking his head up. Closer inspection proved that he was, in fact, asleep. In the very back of the room, several students began clapping their palms lightly, as if on a golf course.

The changes in Naruto's schedule didn't stop there. He had been going out to eat his solitary lunch again, when he was grabbed again by Tatsuki. This time, he had time to realize he had changed surroundings before he was shoved down at a table right outside the school. To his left, once again, was Tatsuki. To his right was the big boobed girl. Orihime, he reminded himself.

"So, how did you like your second day of class?" The bubbly girl said happily. Naruto looked at her and grunted noncommittally. Further conversation was quickly stopped by the arrival of a very odd person.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO DEFILE MY BEAUTIFUL ORIHIME?!" A small redhead with glasses yelled. "You pervert! I should-" She trailed off as Naruto shrugged off her tirade and began to eat his lunch. The girl began shrieking again, and Naruto continued to tune it out to eat his lunch.

"SHUT UP!" Tatsuki yelled, and planted her foot firmly in the girls midsection. "Sorry about that," she said, turning to Naruto. "That's Chizuru. She's kinda crazy, and really has the hots for Orihime over there." Orihime, hearing her name, surfaced from her bowl of rice.

"Did you say something?" she asked. Tatsuki shook her head in the negative, and Orihime dove back down into her food. Naruto shrugged and continued eating his… "How'd you get ramen here?" Tatsuki asked. Naruto grinned, mouthed 'Trade Secret', and continued slurping his noodles and broth.

The period after lunch was conducted in a similar way to the one before it. Naruto slept, occasionally awoke to answer questions, and tossed back the occasional eraser. After class, Tatsuki dragged Naruto to the dojo where the karate club had it's weekly meetings. After being forcibly introduced to the instructor and given a gi that was about his size, he was placed in a seat along with twenty others while the teacher began to talk.

"I think we should see what the new kid's made of." The teacher said. He grinned as he continued with "Let's have a spar. Uzumaki will go against… Arisawa." Grinning, Tatsuki jumped up and entered a stance in the middle of the dojo. Naruto, grudgingly, entered his own stance.

"Don't go easy on me because I'm a girl!" Tatsuki called. "If you do, I'll kick your ass twice as hard!" Naruto looked at her as if she was completely crazy.

"Why the hell would I do that?" he asked. Tatsuki blinked a few times, taken aback by his statement. "Some of my toughest fights have been against girls. I know better then to underestimate someone because they've got a different set of equipment then I do."

Tatsuki smirked. "Good." With that, she charged. A fist shot out at Naruto, who calmly sidestepped it. The leg sweep she shot at him almost took him by surprise, but he managed to jump back into a handspring, landing on his feet.

"Good show." He said, before he launched into his own offensive assault. A leaping kick almost caught Tatsuki, but she ducked under it and lashed out with her palm. Contorting into a position he didn't even think was possible before, Naruto made the strike miss him by the hair. And that missed attack left her open. He shot out a punch, which sunk deep into Tatsuki's gut. The two sprang apart, Tatsuki fighting to get her breath back.

Thought panting heavily, Tatsuki managed to grin. "You're pretty good." She said, nodding at him. Naruto smirked back at her, entering a ready stance. Taking that as a 'come on' sign, she charged. The two became locked in combat again, but this time, Naruto was doing much better. Moves he hadn't used in years were beginning to lose their rust. Taijutsu he had given up in exchange for Kenjutsu was quickly returning, allowing him to anticipate all of Tatsuki's basic attacks.

Now Naruto just needed a way to end this fight. Something with style, something with flair, something like… 'I haven't gotten to do that one in decades!' Naruto thought. 'I'm going to have to time this just right, to compensate for lack of clones.' Quickly, Naruto unleashed a barrage of punches, palm strikes and chops, finishing up with another strong shot to her gut. When she doubled over, Naruto took his shot. He ducked down, launching a mule kick directly into her chest. The sheer leg strength he had shot her up into the air.

"Let's finish this!" he roared, and ran at the wall. He kicked off the wall with suck force that a small dent was left in the side of it. Shooting into the air, he stopped his momentum with a front flip in midair, leaving him directly over Tatsuki. The ensuing leg kick to her face sent her smashing into the ground, while Naruto dropped, quietly mouthing "Naruto Rendan."

Once it became clear that Tatsuki wasn't getting up, Naruto walked over and stared at her. Oh, she was conscious alright. She was just staring blankly at the ceiling. "Nice fight." Naruto said, extending his hand to her. "Don't think I've had a workout like that in years." A small spark of amusement crossed Tatsuki's face.

"Wow." She said. "I lost." Tatsuki grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled herself up. "Good job, Uzumaki! I haven't lost in years!" It became clear that Tatsuki wasn't going to try and kill Naruto for beating her, all of the assembled students began to applaud. Tatsuki, meanwhile, began to sway in place.

Naruto grabbed Tatsuki before she could fall over. "Uh… I think she should go sit down. It's very likely that I just gave her some kind of head injury." At that claim, the teacher walked over and peered into the eyes of the girl in question.

"Oh, she'll be fine. She just took a huge knock to the head. I can't imagine why." The teacher added dryly. "You two just sit over there for a little bit. Afterwards, you two can head home." The two nodded their acknowledgement (Actually, Naruto nodded. Tatsuki just blinked woozily.). After a few minutes of sitting on a bench, Tatsuki got up and the two walked home.

"Does class usually end that early?" Naruto asked.

"Nah." The girl responded. "He just doesn't want to take any chances. The district qualifiers are coming up soon, and I'm the chosen representative to take place in them. If I win, I go to some more tournaments. If I win those, I head over to Nationals." Naruto nodded in acceptance, and the two continued their walk. "I didn't ask you to walk me home, you know." Tatsuki said wryly.

"I'm not." Naruto said in surprise. "My apartment is this way." Tatsuki raised an eyebrow in question, but decided not to ask for an address. Soon enough, the two got to a familiar apartment complex for them both. "See? Mine's on the 2nd floor."

Tatsuki smirked again. "Oh, this is too good. Orihime lives in the one just under yours. I come to visit here everyday." Naruto nodded, and began to head inside. "Hey, can you do something for me?" This time, it was Naruto who raised a questioning eyebrow. "Can you look in on Orihime every once in a while? I mean, she gets lonely when at home when I'm not there. She lives alone, you see, and while she has lots of friends, none live close to her. It takes me twenty minutes to get home from here, so I only stop by when we don't have much homework and-"

Naruto raised a hand, effectively cutting her off. "You're rambling." He said. Tatsuki grinned and rubbed the back of her head in a gesture all too familiar to Naruto. "I'd be glad to. You can't have too many friends, and all that. But that wasn't the only thing you wanted to ask." As Tatsuki jumped in surprise, Naruto hid a smile. He might have been a crappy Ninja by academy standards, but he'd at least picked up how to read people a little bit.

The karate genius grinned again. "Damn, you picked that up. There is one other thing… Wouldyouteachmeyourstyle?" she squeaked out. At Naruto's amused look, she repeated herself, albeit slowly. "Would you teach me your style? I know it's really personal to ask and all, seeing how we've known each other for maybe a day, but I'd really like to pick it up and-" Naruto raised his hand again. "I'm rambling again, aren't I."

"Big time." The blonde said. "In answer to your original question, I'd be happy to teach you the basics of my style. After all, there's only like five basic stances. Afterwards, you're encouraged to add your own techniques to it, to make someone who knows your style unable to create effective counters for it unless they've fought you before. So, yeah, I'd be happy to. After you hang out with Orihime, pop up to my apartment. Sometimes I won't be there, sometimes I will. But sure, I'll be happy to." With that, he trotted up his stairs. "See you tomorrow, Suki-chan!"

The feelings of a blush began to creep up Tatsuki's neck and face. No one, not even her closest friends, ever made her name so familiar and… feminine. But then again, no one had ever really beaten her in a fight before. And surprisingly, she didn't mind either today. Shaking her head to clear it, Tatsuki followed him up the stairs to visit her best friend.

The following day was surprisingly identical to the preceding one. Naruto slept and answered stupid questions at school, then there was a break where he was yelled at by an angry lesbian. Next, he answered more questions, slept a bit more, kicked the holy shit out of some kids in karate club, and then headed home. It was then that the symmetry between days was disrupted. Tatsuki arrived for their first lesson in Konoha Taijutsu.

* * *

Tatsuki entered Naruto's apartment, and looked around. The entire thing was one big room. On the far left was a sleeping pallet, with a washer and a dryer close by. There was a stove directly next to a cupboard which was slightly open. Surprisingly (to Tatsuki) the cupboard held nothing by a few dozen packages of instant ramen and a few gallons of something that looked suspiciously like Pepsi. The rest of the room was sparse: it was completely covered in training mats, with a heavy bag in the center. To her surprise, the bag had a paper on the front, which depicted a stick figure with a huge tongue. Several dents in the paper showed it was being assaulted quite frequently.

The girl walked to the center of the mats, and stood there. "So?" She asked. "Teach me." Naruto began trying, demonstrating the stances and hoping she'd copy him. When she didn't get it, Naruto groaned. "You really don't have any idea how to pass on you style's knowledge, do you." She stated.

Naruto groaned. "I do, but… it kinda involves lots of touching." Tatsuki shrugged. Touching was nothing new to her. Naruto took a deep breath, and walked over to her. "Stand completely limp." He ordered, and Tatsuki was quick to comply. Then to her surprise, he walked around her and pressed his body up against her. "Ok, I'm now going to demonstrate the poses. Move with me, and remember how they each feel."

He moved, and Tatsuki was shocked to find her own body moving with him, flowing from stance to stance. "Good job." He whispered in her ear, continuing to shift through the positions. Tatsuki felt her face heat up a little, but focused on the stances and the movements. After a little bit of that, Naruto backed off. "Now try it by yourself." He said.

Tatsuki did, and shifted easily into first stance. After a bit of a struggle, she also managed to shift into second stance from first stance. "Like I thought." Naruto said. "You need to practice your transitions." He stepped up to her again, molding his body to her own. They began again, this time flowing effortlessly (for Naruto) between first and second stances. After an hour had passed, Naruto called it quits for the night.

"Good night, Suki-chan." Naruto said with a grin, showing her the door. Tatsuki walked out with a wave, trying to focus on the stances and the transitions she had just been taught. But her mind kept drifting back to the small glow she felt when he moved up against her, and the groan of disappointment she had stifled when he moved away again.

The next month passed in exactly the same way. He went to school, went to karate, trained Tatsuki, and slowly became acquaintances with some of Tatsuki's friends. Orihime took to him immediately, because (true to his word) Naruto dropped by to check on her every little while. The two hung out, drank tea, talked about the virtues of some foods, and basically got to know each other.

The rest of them were much harder to approach. The boy with the perpetual scowl, Ichigo, seemed depressed all the time. He didn't seem to be willing to reach out to anyone outside his own small circle of friends, and frankly, Naruto didn't see much point in reaching out to him either. Chad was slightly more approachable. He just didn't talk much. Uryu, on the other hand… Naruto had tried once to talk with the Quincy, but had left shaking his head after having to deal with the cold shoulder that was presented to him.

The one thing that worried Naruto was the complete lack of Hollows. He'd been sent to this town to prevent against Hollows due to the large concentration of reiatsu, but not one had attacked yet. As he was wondering why, Naruto soon learned the value of the expression 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'.

The deliverer of bad luck was currently floating above Karakura, supported by solidified reiatsu under his feet. 'Damn!' Omaeda Marechiyo thought. 'If he doesn't die in combat, how the hell am I going to get my position back?! No matter.' He reached into the pocket of his robe, and pulled out a small disk: Hollow bait. 'If I crushed all of this, there'd be no way he'd win. But Soul Society would detect the surge, and find the bait. No, I've got to spread just a little.' He broke off a small chunk of the bait, and dropped it directly over Naruto's home.

Almost immediately, rifts began forming in the sky. His devious work done, the treacherous soul reaper teleported back to Soul Society. But the damage had been done. Eight hollows, drawn by the bait, entered the world directly above Uzumaki Naruto's temporary living quarters. Worse, Naruto was currently training Tatsuki.

Immediately, he sensed something was wrong. 'Hollows!' Shinobi hissed into his mind. Naruto nodded, and sensed one incoming. "DOWN!" he yelled, and shoved Tatsuki onto the ground. Just in time too, as a massive claw split open his wall, cutting through the area Tatsuki had just been standing. 'I gotta get her out of here!' Naruto thought. The perfect excuse came to mind. "Tatsuki, head downstairs and check on Orihime! I'll follow you!" With her best friend possibly in danger, Tatsuki wasted no time in shooting out of the room.

Naruto reached into a pocket, and took out a small tube labeled Soul Candy. Popping one small white globe into his mouth, his Shinigami form was immediately separated from his gigai. Before the soul could make his body do anything stupid, Naruto ordered "Follow that girl downstairs. There, you'll find her with another girl! Make sure nothing happens to them!" Saluting, the gigai ran out after Tatsuki.

Drawing his sword, Naruto muttered the command phrase, and the familiar form of Shinobi took shape. "Let's dance!" Naruto yelled, charging into the combat.

"What's going on?" Orihime asked fearfully. The three (well, actually two. The gigai didn't count) were huddling in Orihime's room, hearing the sounds of mass combat break out outside.

"I have no idea." Tatsuki said, the gigai nodding emphatically. "But it's coming from outside. I'm going to go take a look." Quickly, she was up and staring out the window. "I can see some small shapes, but nothing distinct. It's all blurry to me, and… I can't get it."

Outside, Naruto was fighting like his life depended on it. Because, let's face it, it did. But he was under a severe handicap. It was eight on one, and he couldn't even use his full powers against them. He was under the one-fifth limit, which restricted all shinigami of captain or vice-captain level from using too much of their power. Under that restriction, he couldn't fight them all at once, and several were beginning to drift towards Orihime's room.

'Shit!' he thought. 'The only way I can get stop them from going after Orihime is to draw them away with a massive concentration of reiatsu. But drawing that much would knock me out for a bit, so I wouldn't really be able to follow up.' He glanced down at the apartment building, where three hollows were beginning to try to enter. 'No choice.' Reaching down inside himself, Naruto seized his reiatsu and pushed it outwards.

Tatsuki had no idea what was going on. All of a sudden, she just saw this white light, and for a brief second, she could see clearly. She could see the blonde fending off all those monsters for just one second. But that was all she could take before she was knocked unconscious by the power coursing over her.

Naruto continued to exude power, drawing the hollows after him. As they gathered around him, he began to drift away. The hollows followed him in a straight line. With a grin, Naruto drew back his arm and let fly, throwing his Zanpakuto directly through the skulls of every single hollow that had been summoned by the bait.

The last of his strength expended, Naruto keeled over, floating unconscious. Up in Soul Society, a bright red light began to shine in the fourth division headquarters. "We need an emergency unit in Karakura!" Unohana shouted. "The 2nd Division Vice-Captain is down! I repeat, Uzumaki Naruto is down!"

Uchiha Sasuke happened to be walking past the HQ at that exact moment. The first words that went through his head summed up the situation nicely. 'Oh, shit.'.

* * *

A/N: That was chapter 4! Next one should bring us back to Soul Society.

It's now time for my poll of the chapter. Actually, it's more like me trying to get a few ideas. I need Shikai for the following people: Kankurou, Lee, Gai, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Jiraya. Please, chime in with your ideas.

See you next time in Chapter 5: Back to Seireitei!


	5. Recovering

A/N: Well, sorry for the long delay. It's time for a song though!  
Happy Birthday to me (a few days early!)! Happy Birthday to me (A few days early)!

On my birthday, I personally beleive in giving some others presents! So here's a fresh new chapter for Shrouded Orange.  
Of course, by my birthday, I should have gotten loads of reviews. If now... eh, it happens.

If you check my profile, chances are you'll see more fresh Vesvius-brand goodness by the fourth. Enjoy!

* * *

Tatsuki blinked once. Then she blinked again. As her head cleared, the feeling settled in. It was the feeling, the sense, that something was wrong and was too late to be fixed. Tatsuki's eyes darted around the apartment, surveying the damage. Or, she felt, there _should _be damage. But no, there was pristine wall instead of holes, completely empty spaces instead or rubble. And Orihime, the only other person in the apartment, was sleeping peacefully. 

'Wait? Sleeping?!' Tatsuki thought, looking through the window. Sure enough, the sun was peeking through the curtains. "Orihime!" she yelled. "We've got to get to school!" As Orihime sat up, something else occurred to the karate genius. 'Wait, where's Naruto? Oh, he probably left for school already. Maybe he can tell us what the hell happened last night.'

But when the two got to school, they were in for another shock. Naruto wasn't there, and his desk was completely empty, as if no one was using it. Before Tatsuki could question anyone, class began. If she had been paying any attention to her classmates, Tatsuki would have seen that very few people looked back at the empty seat. But those that did could be counted on one hand: Ichigo. Orihime. Chad. Uryu. They were the only people that looked back at the seemingly deserted desk.

Uryu glanced around the room quickly. 'Hm. There's a new concentration of Reiatsu here…' His eyes settled on Tatsuki. 'It seems that something catalyzed her powers. Hm… her energy is spiking wildly, creating a color I've never seen before. Her Reiraku (Spiritual Threads) look different from mine, and different from a Soul Reapers… they're almost… orange.' Shaking his head, and waving off the new development as no consequence, Uryu turned his attention back to the board.

As Tatsuki reached into her desk, searching for materials for class, her hand encountered an envelope. She pulled it out, flipping it over to see who it was for. Her breath caught as she spotted a familiar form of address in a familiar handwriting: _To Suki-chan_. Tearing it open, she pulled out the note and began to read. The contents it contained were simple: Naruto's mother had been injured, and he'd had to leave town to go comfort her and keep her company. He was sorry to leave so suddenly, but promised to be back soon.

Tatsuki grinned, smoothing the letter out. 'Well, at least he left a note before he had to run off.' She thought. Unbeknownst to anyone in the class, a familiar figure was lurking in the shadows in the back of the room. It's crystal blue eyes were trained on Tatsuki to the exclusion of all else. The mod soul, still in Naruto's gigai, grinned. It seemed that the girl was calmed, and his master wouldn't be in much trouble if he returned. Its work here was done. The mod soul pressed the retrieval button in its belly button. With a gust of wind, the mod soul was whisked back to Soul Society.

* * *

While his faux body was being taken back by the 12th division, Naruto's soul was being given a complete medical treatment. Unohana and Isane, the two top healers in the best healing division, were pouring life-saving Reiatsu into his body. They had been working tirelessly over him for hours, trying their best to keep him alive. Haku, the third best healer, was reduced to standing in the back and taking notes on the treatment, when she would much rather be helping with the treatment. "It seemed to be just a case of Reiatsu strain." Unohana said, her calm tone at odds with her contorted, tired face. "He tried to reach for more reiatsu then the seal placed on him would allow. That strained his body and depleted his natural reserves. That should have easily been cured by a reiatsu transfusion. But all that seems to be doing is making it worse!" 

Frustrated, the fourth division captain shut off her reiatsu flow. "I've never seen anything like this before." She said. "It almost seems that his body is imploding from the inside!" Taking her cue from her leader, Isane cut off her own flow. "Haku, you knew him in life." Unohana said. "Was there any odd medical condition he had? One that could transfer over to death?"

Haku stared at her captain incredulously. "Captain, I had a total of two conversations of him in life. Certainly not enough to learn his medical history. Why don't you ask someone who knew him better, like some of the cadets or the 1st division vice-captain?"

Nodding, Unohana paged Sarutobi. Fortunately, the man was sitting right outside of the room, waiting on word about his foster grandchild. Getting straight to the point, she asked "Is there anything odd about Uzumaki's physiology? The more Reiatsu I pout into him, the worse his situation gets!"

"Well, I don't know if this matters at all, but Naruto-kun always had more chakra then usual in life." Sarutobi said, neatly skirting the issue of Kyuubi. He'd tell them that if it became necessary, and no other time. "His Zanpakuto also connects him to chakra, something never before seen in the 13 courts." Sarutobi began to rub his chin, deep in thought. "When he was taken down, did he have any chakra in his system?" Unohana nodded the affirmative, and the older man sighed. "That's your problem. Chakra is the essence of life. It doesn't mix well with Reiatsu, the energy of death!"

If she wasn't so dignified, Unohana would have smacked herself in the head. Isane, under no such restrictions, smacked her palm hard agains her forehead. Quickly, Unohana placed one hand of Naruto, and the other over Shinobi. "**_Fuu! _**(Seal) " she yelled, and a green light encompassed Naruto's blade. Shimmering, it returned to its sealed state. "Medical art 47! Part One: Suppression!" she shouted. A bridge of golden light formed between Naruto and his sword, then shattered. "Part Two: Expulsion!" When the second part was uttered, a blast of green light shot into Naruto. A blue aura formed around him, then faded away.

Taking over for her teacher, Isane pumped more healing energy into the prone form of Naruto. This time, it had a visible effect. His color, previously a pasty white, returned to it's usual tan complexion. He began to breathe normally once again, a vast change from the strained inhalations he had before. Isane, now the one breathing heavily, grunted "Put him in a spare bed, now."

* * *

The first thing Naruto saw when he woke up was black. Lots and lots of black. He blinked, hoping to clear his vision. But still, the utter blackness remained. Naruto waved his hand in front of his face, and could see it clearly. Now completely confused, Naruto tried to poke the blackness. To his surprise, he felt resistance. As he took in the scene, Naruto slowly realized that he was just staring at the coat of Shinobi, who was still a pitch black fox. 

"IDIOT!" Shinobi yelled. "You strained your power! You could easily have lifted the seal, then went all out against eight hollows, but nooooo, you had to panic! You had to try to access all your power without removing the seal! That's like trying to get to a river without going through the dam! YOU MORON!"

The corporeal spirit could yell no more, for at that moment, the door slid open and a group of shinigami poured into the room. There was Renji, with his shiny new glasses. Sasuke, still paler then usual. Sarutobi, moving surprisingly quickly for his age. Finally, Haku, hands raised in a defensive position. "What the hell is going on?!" Renji shouted. "Who's yelling?!"

The group caught sight of the giant fox on Naruto's chest, baring it's fangs at them. In the silence that ensued, Naruto swore he could have heard a pin drop. Sasuke was the first to speak. "N-Naruto, how the hell do you do that?!" Naruto looked at his friend incredulously. "I mean, you shouldn't be able to materialize your Zanpakuto spirit for another few years! No one's ever gotten it out that fast before!"

Naruto exchanged glances with the now calm Shinobi. "Well… I…. I'm just cool like that?" he said, half asking and half stating. Quickly, he took a headcount of the group. "Wait, someone's missing. Where's Rangiku-chan?" Renji cleared his throat, and grimaced.

"Well, she's been really quiet since you left. She's gone out Hollow Hunting once, and doesn't do much training. Plus, she seems to be drinking a lot of sake. But when you showed up in the hospital, she retreated to her quarters completely. She hasn't been seen in a few days."

Naruto blinked rapidly, confused. 'Wait… Sake is the poor man's release partner. If she's been drinking a lot, it means that she hasn't had any physical release at all since I left on my mission. Holy hell…' Shaking his head to clear it, Naruto asked "So anyone want to tell me why I'm in this bed?"

Taking charge, Haku said "If you remember, you reached for more reiatsu then you could access while fighting eight hollows. In doing that, you strained your reiatsu capacity, and stopped the flow of it temporarily. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be a problem. We could just patch you up quickly with a reiatsu transfusion. But in this case, something more serious was needed. As you has your sword released when you fought, you had a huge amount of chakra inside of you when the reiatsu suddenly stopped. And without reiatsu to counter it, it appears that chakra acts as a corrosive poison in your pathways. So we had to expel your chakra, manually seal your sword, and then give you reiatsu."

Owlishly, Naruto blinked again. "Well, I can see how that would put me in a hospital bed. But none of that explains how big and furry over here can manifest! I haven't done any manifestation training since I was sent on my mission!"

This time, it was the aged Sarutobi who spoke up. "There have been tales in the past of Shinigami who were closer then others with their Zanpakuto. These ones have an almost symbiotic relationship. The two are almost… imprisoned within each other." Naruto blanched, but Sarutobi continued as if he hadn't noticed. "So the two become closer, and the Zanpakuto gains power at a much faster rate then others."

Naruto quickly translated in his head. 'Because Shinobi has pieces of Kyuubi in him, he has much more power and will then other Zanpakuto. But when we eventually defeat the remainder of Kyuubi… what will happen to my sword?' He shook his head, dismissing those thoughts for later. "Well, thanks for the explanations." He said, throwing his covers aside. As he reached for the spare uniform next to the bed, he said "I have people to go visit, so I'll see you later." Haku tried to make him get back in bed, but eventually let him go with mild protest. As he walked out, Naruto clasped his friends' shoulders, and nodded to his foster grandfather.

* * *

'First stop, Rangiku.' He thought, and walked towards the 10th division barracks. Entering easily, he looked around for the correct room. Moments later, Naruto was standing in front of a familiar door with the word 'Matsumoto' emblazoned on it in bronze. He knocked quickly. The door slid open, revealing a haggard looking Rangiku. "Hey, Rangiku-chan, I was just let out and-" Naruto got no further, as he found his lips covered by the welcoming ones of his release partner. With strength that he hadn't known she possessed, Rangiku pulled him into her room and closed the door, never letting him go. 

An hour later, Naruto rolled over, trying to get his bearings. 'So, which direction is up, and which is down…' he wondered, and tried to get up. Instead, he fell on the floor. 'Well, that one's definitely down.' A small giggle came from next to him. "Something amusing, Rangiku-chan?" he asked.

"By Kami, I missed you." She said, a smile still adorning her beautiful features. Naruto gave her a questioning look.

"Wow, I didn't know I was that good." He said with a huge smirk. "But, seriously, Rangiku-chan… I told you to get some release while I was gone. And I can tell that you really haven't!"

"Wha?" Rangiku said, eyes wide, the picture of beautiful innocence. "What do you mean, you could tell?" Naruto gestured around the room with his hand, and Rangiku's wide eyes bulged. "I see." She said.

The room, simply put, was destroyed. The curtains were hanging half on, half off their rods. The writing desk was knocked over, ink and paper spilling everywhere. The kitchen area hadn't been spared, and various food products were in hundreds of places. Hell, somehow they'd even gotten into the bathroom, which explained the broken mirrors, and very messy shower. Eventually, they had gotten to the bed itself, which had suffered the most. Sheets and blankets had been either flung halfway across the room or torn in half. The bed frame looked more fragile then usual, a pillow had been completely destroyed, and somehow they had broken off the legs. Oddly enough, the bed was actually two inches in the wall, driven by the force of their passion.

Then Naruto actually got a good look at Rangiku. Her normally immaculate hair was off in odd angles, even matted in a few suspicious places. She appeared to be covered in liquids: there was drool, sweat, a little bit of blood, some things that Naruto were shocked to discover were so abundant, and… "Is that vodka?" he asked, looking at her belly button. Glancing around, he saw the kitchen again. "Oh, yeah." They had taken a break halfway though, which pretty much extended to Naruto drinking some body shots.

To his chagrin, the sight brought a huge smile to his face. The fruits of the exertions from the past hour made his lips part, and a grin of gigantic proportions into force. Seeing his smile, one of Rangiku's own popped up, thinking the danger had passed. Dark azure eyes met bright sky-blue ones, both shining with an inner light. A sudden warmth flared up in Naruto, trumping the feelings of curiosity and a bit of smoldering lust. Shaking his head, he came back to the situation at hand. Rangiku was hiding something from him, and he wanted to know what it was. Sensing that

Quickly, Rangiku tried to think of a decent excuse for why she had gone without release for the month plus that Naruto had been gone. "Well, um… no one was willing?" she half asked, half stated. Naruto gave her a look that clearly stated she would have to do so much better. "I didn't need it!" she said triumphantly, like the winning contestant on a game show.

Naruto looked at her pityingly. "Rangiku-chan, you can't honestly expect me to believe that. I mean, I went without release for the same amount of time you did. And half of this," he said as he gestured around the room. "Was me. The other half didn't come out of thin air."

"Well… er, I…" Luckily for Rangiku, a knock on the door came interrupting her stammering. Naruto gave her a look that said that this clearly wasn't over, and wrapped a sheet around his waist as he answered the door. As the door swung open, Naruto found himself facing half of the 11th division with their swords drawn.

"We received numerous reports about a pitched battle going on here. We have orders to search the premises." One said in an official tone of voice. Naruto sighed, and yelled for Rangiku to get something on. When she signified that she'd done so, he stepped aside and allowed the confused shinigami entrance to the room. "Hm…" the official sounding one said. "What's that smell?"

* * *

Ten minutes later, a fully dressed Naruto was shoved out of Rangiku's apartment. She claimed that she had a meeting with her captain later, and couldn't go looking like she had just had… well, sweaty sex on many surfaces for over an hour. So now, with Rangiku's comment reminding him, Naruto had come to a decision. 'Captain Soifon will kill me if I don't report to her soon!' Briskly, he walked (or ran, depending on who was looking) to the barracks with the large number two over it, completely ignoring the lingering feeling of warmth that hung around him. 

Naruto walked up to the door, looked at it, and gulped. The captain was notoriously short-tempered with those who had been slacking, goofing off, or worst of all, late. Softly, he tapped on the door, hoping she wouldn't hear. His hopes were quickly dashed when the sharp "Enter!" was barked through the door. Naruto practically flew into the room, stood at attention, and grunted out "Vice-Captain Uzumaki, fresh from discharge, reporting!"

Soifon looked at him, a small smile playing on her lips. "Why Naruto-kun, I was unaware you were that formal!" Naruto gaped a little. His captian… known as the 'Icy Bitch' to most shinigami… was smiling, joking, called him Naruto-kun, and… wasn't mad! "Oh!" Soifon said, easily reading his face. "You thought I would be angry for not being your first stop."

"Rest assured, Naruto-kun, I've been on long term missions before, and once I got out of the hospital, my first stop was usually to the home of a friend or loved one. Tell me, was the person you stopped to see a friend or loved one?" Naruto shook his head emphatically. "Good. Then you have no reason to be nervous around me, Naruto-kun. At ease." The command finally allowed Naruto to safely slouch down into his usual position "Now, report. What put you in the hospital?" When Naruto gave her a questioning look, she merely said "I haven't gotten the complete summary from 4th division yet."

Naruto gave her a quick synopsis, ending with "Apparently, the pure chakra without Reiatsu to balance it is a destructive force inside my body. Hm… I wonder what would happen if I combined the two outside my body… That's worth further testing. Basically, Captain Soifon, it was completely quiet down there until I was attacked by eight Hollows at once. I could have defeated them if I had remembered that I could lift my seal, or just not have panicked."

Soifon nodded, and reached over to grab a form from a bin on her desk. "Well, while you're here for a little while, we'll need to send someone down to your district. Someone who doesn't mind mindless busy work, and would actually welcome it right now. I know, Kuchiki!"

Naruto stared at her, somewhat dumbfounded. Of course he knew the raven haired shinigami, but only in passing. She'd been in his graduating class, but had skipped the final exam due to her being adopted into one of the noble clans. Renji never tired in talking about her, and from his descriptions, Kuchiki Rukia would be one of the last people to welcome busy work. Of course, Soifon noticed his expression. "Oh, yes. You wouldn't be aware of some of the current events around here. You see, Naruto-kun, Vice Captain Shiba was recently possessed by a new breed of hollow on a vengeance mission. He was accompanied by two people: Captain Ukitake and Kuchiki. Ukitaki's illness caught up with him when he tried to kill the possessed Shiba, so Rukia had to do it. Killing her mentor was… disturbing to her."

'Understatement of the century' Naruto thought. Rukia had practically idolized her Vice-Captain, and had had quite the crush on him, despite his marriage. Having to kill the man she almost worshipped would have destroyed her, at least temporarily. Having something to do while thinking it over would only help her in the long run. And his section did need patrolling. Naruto nodded his agreement, and Soifon finished filling out the form.

"Deliver this to Captain Ukitake, pronto." She said. "Unless, of course, you have any questions whatsoever?" Her tone seemed to be almost… leading, as if she wanted him to ask some kind of question. But Naruto, who did manage to catch that, simply had no idea what it was she was trying to get him to do. Fortunately, he still had one question anyway.

"What's pronto?" he asked, honestly not knowing. Soifon shook her head slowly, and waved him out the door. Shrugging, he ran out towards the thirteenth division, and the reassignment of Kuchiki Rukia. Soifon smiled after him, a little wistfully. With a shake of her head, she realized one of the things was that had been bothering her. 'He feels different, somehow.' She thought. 'Almost like a shinigami does after…. Nah, it couldn't be.'

After dropping of the papers with one of the 13th's third seats, because Ukitake wasn't seeing anyone at the moment, Naruto cast his mind about for something to do. He had caught up with all his friends sufficiently for the moment (and in some cases, far too well), and they probably had duties anyway. However, Captain Soifon had merely given him a small errand and told him to go. If she had wanted to give him more, she would have given him more then. So Naruto basically had the most coveted thing to be found in the Gotei thirteen: a day off.

He suddenly realized what time it was when his stomach growled: it was lunch time. 'Hm… I wonder what day it is…' he thought, suddenly realizing that no one had ever told him the day. Glancing around the 13th division waiting room, he spotted a calendar hanging on the bulletin board, with the days crossed out. 'Hm… Thursday… that means something to me… HEY! I usually meet Momo-chan for lunch on Thursday afternoons!' Like a shot, he blasted off towards the café where he and Hinamori usually had their weekly meals.

Luck was with him, as Hinamori was just sitting down to order her usual. Grinning, Naruto slid into the seat across from her, nodding at the waitress standing there in greeting. "Hey, Momo-chan!" he greeted.

"Uzumaki-san." She said, nodding. Only the warmth in her eyes betrayed the fact that she was thrilled to see him. Otherwise, she might have been talking to the doorman of the building next door for all the emotion she put in her voice. "It is good to see you up and about, especially so soon after your hospital stay. I had feared you would be bedridden for a while longer."

Naruto looked at her, eyes wide in surprise. "Um… Momo-chan? I thought that we had agreed that you would either call me Naruto, Naruto-kun, or some variant of that. So, if you don't mind my asking, what's with 'Uzumaki-san'? I expect that from someone I'm meeting for the first time, but not you!"

"Captain Aizen and I had a discussion about that while you were gone, Uzumaki-san. Captain Aizen pointed out that by referring to you as such, I was merely showing a form of favoritism to others in other divisions, possibly causing strife within my own. So I have resolved, and Captain Aizen has agreed, that I must always be formal in speaking with someone in public, and usually in private."

Naruto nodded and groaned internally. He got through the rest of his lunch barely, making idle chit-chat that was no where near the depth of the conversations he and Hinamori had been having before he was sent out on his mission. 'It all comes down to Aizen, doesn't it.' He thought. 'I'm sure he doesn't mean to, all he's doing to help Hinamori seems to be making her a drone completely dependant on him! Hell, we've been sitting here half an hour and she hasn't yet made a sentence that didn't being with Captain Aizen!'

After lunch, Naruto held himself back from storming off in a huff, but only with the greatest restraint. But he did move out at a pace that was much faster then he'd usually go. Quickly, he found a place he could be alone: an empty training ground, which was grassy, leafy, and had many tree stumps he could cut. With a snarl, Shinobi appeared in his hand, and resumed it's usual four-pronged form without a word from Naruto. Roaring, Naruto charged at the tree stump as if it had done him a personal wrong, adding several new slashes.

When Naruto was exhausted, panting, with Shinobi shimmering into its sealed form, Naruto heard a cool voice behind him. "I take it you spoke with her." It said. Naruto spun, Shinobi raised, only to see Captain Hitsugaya sitting with two bottles of Sake. "Take a seat." He said.

"Captain Hitsugaya, I ap-"

"Uzumaki, if I had wanted your apologies, I would have beaten you into the ground. No matter how much raw power you have, you haven't refined it enough to beat me in a one-on-one match. I merely heard the sounds of destruction, realized you were out of the hospital, and figured you might need a hand." Hitsugaya explained calmly, taking a swig of Sake. "When I discovered Hinamori's sudden changes, I did worse myself." He pointed of to the side, and Naruto's gaze followed his finger.

The spot pointed at was, quite simply put, in the middle of a blizzard. There were icicles hanging from the tree stump, snow falling in perpetuity, and what seemed to be forks of frozen lightning hitting the ground. "Wow." Naruto said. "When did you first find out about this?"

"Two weeks ago." Ignoring Naruto's look of shock, he took another swig. "Drink up. The bottle helps you get past the first shock, but after that, you're on your own." Grumbling about super-powered captains, Naruto sat next to him and took a swig of his own bottle. There the two sat, drinking in silence, until they ran out of Sake.

* * *

The next few days passes uneventfully for Naruto. He greeted his friends, quickly got back into fighting form, and made certain that he spent at least half of the time alone in training field, taking out his aggressions on a passive piece of wood. Rangiku had still managed to distract him from the reason she went without release for a month, as was all too easy for her to do. He wasn't surprised about that, as she had quite the gift for misdirection when she wanted to. 

He was able to get out of Sasuke that he had unlocked his shikai, but wasn't quite capable of controlling it. When he asked, all he got in response was muttering about damned firebirds and some curses about stuck up midgets with white hair. Naruto thought it best not to press the topic.

Renji hadn't been doing much of anything recently. All he was doing was worrying over Rukia, who had been dispatched to take over Naruto's patrol area while he recovered. One could think they were married, but Naruto knew better. Neither was the marrying type. They'd probably just have a long torrid affair until one of them died.

The two dead legendary Sannin were, to put it mildly, happy to see him. Tsunade almost killed him with the strength of her hug, and Jiraya ruffled his hair so much, Naruto was surprised it didn't look permanently like he had stepped out of a tornado. After their speech about how good it was to see him, he found himself on the ground, looking at little birdies. "AND IF YOU EVER GET KILLED AGAIN, I'LL KILL YOU!" Tsunade yelled.

Team Gai was almost exactly the same as they had been when alive. Gai and Lee were exchanging odd promises, Neji was groaning, and Ten-Ten was patting down her robes, moaning about the lack of proper weapons. That wasn't the only uniform concern they had, as Gai and Lee had somehow managed to dye their simple training robes green. Naruto told himself to speak with the academy teachers before he left. Only they could stop Gai's rampage, which would no doubt end in all the Shinigami uniforms green, tight-fittting, and just plain painful.

But the two Naruto was happiest to see in Soul Society were the two Ichiraku. They didn't have enough Reiatsu to become Shinigami, but they had still managed to make themselves indispensable. Well, to Naruto that is. The two had managed to set up a small ramen stand just outside Seireitei, in the 1st and best division of the Rukongai. To Naruto, that truly made this place heaven.

Gaara had done as asked, and had watched all of Naruto's friends. He was as proud as a monotone formerly homicidal shinobi could be that he'd done as ordered. The other two sand siblings were less happy then their brother, but that might be because Gaara had made them help out in stalking Naruto's friends. Still, Kankurou was noticeably more angry then Temari, who spent most of the time staring at Naruto with a weird look on her face. One Naruto still couldn't place.

But the real surprise of Soul Society came when he went to get his assignments from the captain. Whispered rumors from the underlings of the division had said that she'd been acting very strange recently, showing symptoms that ordinary Shinigami exhibited when they suffered from lack of release. Naruto shook those stories off as simple rumors. When you were as beautiful and skilled as Soifon was, you simply didn't have trouble finding a release partner, he reasoned.

But when he came in to the office, the captain surprised him again. Soifon, instead of giving him the usual jobs, told him to take a seat. Once he had, she launched into a story. "Do you know, Naruto-kun, that most people consider me an Ice Queen?" Naruto thought for a second, then nodded. He had heard that rumor, but being as Captain Soifon was so nice to him, he saw no truth in it. "Usually, it is quite true. Do you want to know why?"

Naruto could only nod his head as his captain, his beautiful captain, proceeded to practically spill her guts to him. "I was in your spot once, the young vice-captain, fresh on the job. But then, the leader was, well, not like me. She was _beautiful_… Her name was Yoruichi, and I loved her so much. She was like my goddess, my princess, the center of my universe. I did what she asked, when she asked, how she asked…" Naruto stared at her, bewildered.

'Hm, I didn't know Captain Soifon was a lesbian.' He thought. He'd known some Soul Reapers were, but not his captain. "Sounds like a great woman, Captain Soifon." He said out loud.

"Oh, she was, make no mistake about it." Soifon said, her eyes still seeing the sights her memories brought. "But then one day, without warning, she just disappeared! Her friend, the captain of the 12th division was exiled, and she ran away to join him! For some reason, General Yama thought it would be a great idea to put the mourning, lovelorn teenager in charge of the most skilled fighting division! So I got my post… and became the Ice Queen to most people."

"But you, you are different. Your eyes shine with the same light that hers do, and now you're in my position… I can let the mask I always hold up down around you, Naruto-kun. You remind me so much of her, yet different in your own special way…." Before Naruto knew what was happening, he felt something soft on his lips, and something warm darting into his mouth. In short, his captain was kissing him.

Her kiss was different then Rangiku's. Rangiku was forceful, dominant, aggressive, far different then the cheerful laid-back personality she showed everyone else. It was as if she was compensating for her lack of control by trying to control their kiss. Soifon was different. She was gentle, coaxing, extremely needy. She was giving up the control she had in everyday life, allowing him to be in charge.

Before he knew it, he was kissing her back. Moments later, the door had slammed shut. Moments after that, they were naked and sweating on the captains desk as their voices cried out to the sun.

Needless to say, no one could get their assignments from the Second Division for a good long while.

The rumors spread fast. One of the first to hear them was one Matsumoto Rangiku. She smirked when she heard them. 'About damn time.' She thought. 'I knew I wasn't satisfying you, and you'd have gone crazy if you'd remained monogamous. You're a good man, Uzumaki.' The warmth she felt inside of her flared, and turned white hot. She smiled as the heat coursed through her.

* * *

Days later, after his surprising encounter with his captain, Naruto was once again taking out his frustrations on the training stump. But this time, his mind didn't desert him when he was attacking. Instead, it went looking for more profitable ways to cause destruction. 'Hey, wait!' he thought. 'If chakra was so destructive inside my body that it put me out, how destructive would it be if combined with Reiatsu correctly? Hmm… now how to do it?' he thought, sitting down with an uncharacteristically thoughtful look on his face. 

'Well, to harness chakra, one has to perform a jutsu. Jutsu's require hand seals, usually, chakra manipulation, and the name of the technique. Reiatsu, on the other hand, sometimes needs hand gestures, usually needs a chant, and then the name of the technique. How should I combine them?'

Naruto breathed in deeply, and raised his arms, about to begin the attempt. But he was interrupted when a sweaty wide-eyed Renji ran into the clearing. "Rukia's gone missing!" he shouted. "She's disappeared from her post!" Naruto gaped, and ran for the exit.

And as he ran, he still never noticed the sense of warmth that followed him still.

* * *

A/N: Didja like that, guys? If so, leave a review! If not, leave one anyway. It's my birthday! Oh, and I've decided on the Shikai for the people I asked about last chapter. They'll be shown soon. 

Oh, and trust me, it might be a little bit till chapter six, but it'll be worth the wait. I'll leave you with a teaser name:

Menos Kyuubi


	6. Investigating

A/N: Well, sorry about the delay, everybody. I personally think it was worth it. This chapter is one of the biggest I've had, not in size, but in importance.

My thanks go out to my buddy Armando (Who I know is reading this) and everyone at the Fanfiction Forum, for helping me crack my writer's block

* * *

The twenty six captains and vice captains of the thirteen divisions stood at the table used for briefings. "We have a problem." General Yamamoto said. "We had our tech officer, the one responsible for monitoring the status' of all Shinigami on the surface, tear into my room in a frenzy. It appears that Kuchiki was engaged with a low-class hollow, and her vitals took a hit. We were mobilizing the relief squad when her energy signal just… disappeared. It didn't fade, as Uzumaki's did when he went comatose. It also didn't turn red, as it does when the target has died. It just vanished!" 

Naruto was gaping as the usually calm and collected General ranted and raved. It was true that the General had been around since before Shinigami, and had even founded the Shinigami academy. And it had been thought that he knew it all, had seen every single phenomenon. But as the yelling and raving said, he clearly didn't.

"But worse… as soon as her Reiatsu signal vanished, an unknown one appeared. It was at least triple Kuchiki's strength, putting in on about 3rd seat level. The hollow she had targeted was annihilated in seconds. Then it also vanished, and the tech officer ran to find me."

"I've called you all together for the simple purpose of putting a task before you: I need one of you to find someone to go down to the surface and find out what happened to Kuchiki. They must be of 3rd seat or higher, in case the new reiatsu source should prove hostile. They must be at least somewhat familiar with the area, and would preferably already have a cover established there. We would void the mind blanks placed on those they'd encountered, allowing them to resume their cover lives as if nothing has changed. I need the captains to check their files for any who might have those distinctions."

The meeting broke and resumed less then an hour later, the captains having gone through their extensive files. It was found that only three shinigami matched all of those requirements. But one had been killed in action, and another was currently on assignment in a small African Village. That left one: Naruto. Yama looked at the blonde vice-captain, who was staring impassively at the wall in front of him. "Is there some reason you would be unable to accept this mission?"

Naruto was staring straight ahead blankly, but his mind was anything by blank. It was currently thinking of the positives and negatives of this situation. He would be able to see his friends again, but his last mission hadn't gone as planned. He'd be separated from both Soifon and Rangiku, as well as all his other friends here. But he had to do it. Lives depended on this. "No, Yamamoto-sama, I will be able to undergo this mission."

Twenty minutes later, Naruto leapt through the portal, without even being given any time to say goodbye. His friends wouldn't even know he was gone for another hour, when it was stated when the division captains gave the general announcements. Well, most of his friends anyway.

Rangiku, on the other hand, knew ahead of time, when she was called into Soifon's office. The captain wasted no time before getting right down to the matter at hand. "Is Uzumaki your first lover?" she asked.

Rangiku turned a bright scarlet color. "Lover? No, he's my release partner."

Soifon shook her head in a pitying manner. "You're obviously very green when it comes to these matters. Where did you first here about release, and when did you first decide you needed it?" As Rangiku struggled to remember those facts, Soifon allowed a small smile to cross her face. "As I thought, you really don't remember. But what if I told you that there was no such thing as the need for release?"

At Rangiku's inquisitive look, Soifon smirked. "When you were alive, did you ever convince yourself you were sick? Maybe a family member had a cold, and all of a sudden you had imagined a sore throat, maybe a cough, and maybe you felt a bit nauseous?"

The Auburn-haired shinigami looked at her superior, a look of dawning comprehension settling onto her face.

"I see you've realized where I'm going with this. You never, ever, needed release. You just believed in a schoolyard rumor. Subconsciously, I think that you knew it was false, the way most of them do. But you used it to your advantage."

"Why are you telling me this?!" Rangiku said, voice shaking somewhat.

Soifon stared at her piercingly for a moment. The silence stretched on until she said "Uzumaki is my lover as well, and it would be detrimental to him if we were to fight when he gets back from his mission." She stood. "You are dismissed."

* * *

Naruto crashed to the ground with a bang. "Damn 12th division." He muttered, pushing himself up off the ground. "No, we're too busy find out how to use dead bodies as weapons to make a way to have Shinigami land on their feet." Still grumbling, he continued brushing himself off. "Now, where am I?" he mused out loud. Glancing around, he recognized where he was, three blocks away from the school. 

He shrugged and began to walk toward the 'educational facility' if you could call it that. If he was late, it would just add to his dramatic entrance more. As he walked, he mentally reviewed what he'd been told right before he left. The usual memory wipe was forgone as it was thought that he'd be returning to his posting soon. Instead, a note had been delivered to his closest friends stating that he had to go take care of his mother. For the rest, a fake memory had been placed, pretty much stating the exact same thing. Only those with high spirit energy would possibly detect something wrong with their memory.

As he continued walking, he noted the small changes that had taken place. A restaurant had closed down. A huge fight seemed to have happened on a street. The site still reeked of Hollow Reiatsu. 'Hmm… Shreiker.' He concluded. 'That's definitely it's reiatsu. I heard he was defeated recently, but I didn't know he was in this sector. If he was here, what other hollows could be here?'

Soon enough, Naruto had made it to the school. It was untouched, as he remembered, with the usual reiatsu signals flaring about. But something in those signals seemed odd. With new urgency, Naruto ran up the steps to the classroom. As he opened the door quietly, he heard the teacher lecturing "And when you put A squared and B squared together, you thus get C squared. That is the Pythagorean Theorem." Naruto just stood there, ignoring the lecture, as he waited for someone to notice him. Absently, he began studying the students he had picked out as needing to be watched.

Uryu was unchanged in the least. Chad and Orihime both still had the energy they had before, only now it was a bit greater then it had been. As a matter of fact, they were both starting to resemble something. Chad's reiatsu signature was most definitely similar to those of a hollow. Meanwhile, Orihime's was like the typical shinigami.

Next to Orihime was the loud, annoying, lesbian, who was once again drooling over her. But on the other side of her was Tatsuki, who was staring into space while doodling. After he studied her face for a few minutes (for purely professional reasons, of course), he turned his attention to her reiatsu.

It had most definitely changed. 'I've never seen a makeup like that before!' he thought, stunned. Her reiatsu was always moving, bouncing, happy-seeming. But it also seemed, at the same time, contained. Oddest of all was its color. While Orihime's reiatsu was blue, Chad's was a darkish red, and Uryu's was most definitely white, Tatsuki's was… orange. 'SWEET!'

Behind Tatsuki was Keigo, who was practically drooling as he stared out the window. 'Probably wishing he could get Mizuro's leftovers again.' Naruto thought. But as he looked next to Mizuro, the next person was…

"Holy shit. Kuchiki. Well, that was simple. Now, to get her, interrogate her, and send her on her merry way. But if she's here, then that means the new carrier of her powers has to be her too.' Luckily for Naruto, he didn't have to look far. He only had to look over one more seat.

Ichigo had, for lack of a better word, evolved. Before, his reiatsu signal was wild, unchained, unfocused, and most definitely human. But now, it was still all of the first three things, but was definitely that of a shinigami. And a high level one too. Probably a fourth seat. He would get higher ranked as he continued to grow, but for right now, he seemed to be at the same level as the 2nd division fourth seat. Slapping himself, Naruto put his mind back on the task at hand. 'Rukia seems to have done a power transfer on him. Hmm… it seems the power added changed his Reiatsu fundamentally, turning him into a pure Shinigami. That's odd…'

His musings were interrupted by a loud squeal. It looked like someone had finally noticed him. Indeed, Tatsuki had spotted him, and her reaction was both violent and unexpected. With a sound that could only be described as a 'Squee', Tatsuki jumped out of her desk and charged him, grabbing him in a vice grip like her life depended on it. That lasted for all of five seconds, when she realized what she was doing and where she was.

Tatsuki jumped back quickly, smoothing out her clothes. The look in her eye threatened violence to anyone who moved. Naruto distracted himself by looking around for an extra seat. Sadly, they all seemed to be filled. Tatsuki, noticing his issue, walked up to Chiuzru, who had attempted to take advantage of Tatsuki's absence to 'win over' Orihime. "MOVE!" Tatsuki yelled, and hastened the girl on her way with a kick to the shoulder. She turned to face Naruto. "Seat?"

Naruto shook his head, a small smile playing across his face. But as he sat down in Chizuru's former seat, he caught the eye of one Kuchiki Rukia. He winked. And in response, the shinigami paled dramatically. Ichigo looked over at her, seeing his friend and kind of mentor as white as a sheet of paper. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Rukia tried to clear her head. "N-no. It's nothing."

* * *

Naruto spent the next half hour being interrogated on both sides. Both Tatsuki and Orihime seemed thrilled to see him. Chad nodded at him, and Uryu just ignored him as always. Ichigo greeted him with a small wave of his hand, but it was Rukia's reaction that made Naruto laugh. She stared at him for the rest of class, looking identical to a deer in headlights. Soon enough, the lunch bell rang. As usual, Orihime squealed and sprinted out of the room. Shaking her head, Tatsuki gestured at Naruto. "You coming, Uzumaki?" 

"Gimme a min." he said. "I gotta see if my stuff is still here." Tatsuki nodded and left, yelling, as was custom, for Chizuru to get her hands off of Orihime. The rest of the class filed out as Naruto made a big show of looking for something in his desk. Before Rukia left, Naruto caught her eye again. His azure eyes narrowed, making her stop in her place and gulp.

"You go on, Ichigo. I think I left my stuff in my desk." She said, and the human-turned-shinigami grunted and left. Once the teacher had gone to her own lunch, Rukia walked over to Naruto and stood at attention. "Vice-Captain Uzumaki, sir!" she barked out, loud enough to ring throughout the room but quiet enough to not be heard anywhere else. Her hand raised in a salute.

Naruto nodded, and returned the salute. "At ease, Kuchiki." Rukia slumped down and stood normally. "Report." He stated.

And Rukia talked. She talked like her life depended on it (for all she knew, it did). About how on a routine patrol, she had been forced to use herself as a shield to protect four people, all with the last name Kurosaki. About how, in a moment of desperation, she had tried to do a temporary transfer of powers to Ichigo, the last one standing. About how Ichigo's vast reiatsu had swallowed all of her powers, and about how they had come back a little, but seemed to be fading again. Naruto raised his hand, stopping Rukia from spilling anything more.

"And you're still hanging around him?" he asked, just to clarify. She nodded vigorously. "And you DIDN'T call soul society? Naruto asked, some annoyance creeping into his voice.

"I tired, I really tried!" she gasped out, frightened. "But my communicator was damaged in the fight! The best it can do right now is detect hollows that are nearby."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Do you trust him?" he asked.

Rukia thought for a moment. "With my life." She said decisively.

"Good." Naruto said. "Here's what I'll do. I'm supposed to call back to Soul Society the moment I find you, as well as exterminate the new carrier of your powers." Rukia, if possible, turned even whiter. "But that's not what I'm going to do. I, as Vice-Captain, am authorizing a fact-finding mission on Kurosaki Ichigo. I, being the only one here qualified to undertake the mission I have just laid out, will watch him, and judge whether or not he is a threat. If he proves to be one, I shall carry out my original assignment. If not, then I shall decide what to do then."

Rukia almost sagged in relief. "Thank you, sir." She said, gratitude ringing in her voice. It was more then she would get from almost any other Shinigami, with the exception those in charge of her own division. Naruto nodded, and she left in a hurry.

Little did Naruto know that his decision would be made in the next forty-eight hours.

* * *

Naruto sat down in his apartment, which had somehow been kept in immaculate condition. He suspected that Orihime and Tatsuki had stopped by to dust it occasionally. As he did his homework, then moved on to kicking around his heavy bag (which had an odd picture of Michael Jackson, to which Naruto had added a snake and a freakishly long tongue), Naruto kept getting the feeling that he was missing something. Something very important… 

A few blocks away, Ichigo was facing down Uryu. "I am a Quincy, Kurosaki. I… hate Shinigami. Which means that I. Hate. You."

The next day, after school, Naruto was walking home after school again when a familiar sent wafted through the air. "SHIT!" he yelled out loud. "Hollow Bait!" Swallowing a Gikongan, he assumed his regular black-shrouded form, and sprinted off towards the center. Taking care to keep hidden, he found Uryu, with bow extended, and Ichigo, his oversized sword drawn.

"I will protect everyone, Kurosaki!" Uryu yelled. "And I'll kill far more hollows then you ever could hope to!" He shot a glowing bolt of light out of his bow, which impacted a hollow as it escaped it's rift in the sky. "That's one!" The Quincy cried victoriously.

Naruto's thoughts could be summed up in two words. "Oh, Shit." He grunted out.

Orihime, Tatsuki, and Chizuru were walking out of the building the Karate Club was held at. Orihime was acting very odd to all the others. "Come on, let's go to my house!" she said. "Theres, um, a TV show I want to watch!"

Chizuru shook her head. "She's so cute! Tatsuki, don't you have to go get changed?"

Tatsuki looked down, and found that she was still in her gi. "Oh, yeah. Don't want to wear this home. You guys start without me." Turning, she jogged back inside. She had barely finished putting her skirt back on when she heard a scream from out front.

"GET DOWN!"

Tatsuki sprinted out of the room as fast as she could, heart racing in both exertion and fear. 'If something happened to Hime, who knows what I'd do?' she thought. She skidded to a stop, mouth open, as she saw what had made Orihime scream. All the windows on the first floor had been completely destroyed. In addition, the orange-brown haired girl was trembling as many figures, both man and woman surrounded her.

But that wasn't the worst thing there. There was something most definitely inhuman out there. It was huge, bloated, and had many tentacles rather like a squid. But it also had a face, a cruel one, with eyes that shone with deep inner hatred and violent. It spoke in a high pitched, eerie tone. "You, see, girl? I vastly prefer having my little toys kill my food for me. It's much safer and cleaner then me doing it myself. Now, my toys, kill her!"

Those words snapped Tatsuki out of her daze, and she sprinted towards the crowd. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" She screamed, her foot coming down on one's head. Belatedly, she realized that she knew the boy she just knocked out. Not that she knew his name, but he was definitely a student at Karakura High. A quick look confirmed that they all were.

"So, Hime." She said. "That's the thing that you were trying to warn us about, wasn't it?"

Orihime looked up at her in shock. "You can see it?"

"Clear as day." Tatsuki said, breathing slowly and assuming the first stance of her Tae-Kwan-Do. "Hey, squid thing! I don't forgive anything or anyone that lays their hands, or someone else's, on Orihime!"

The squid-thing laughed in that eerie high voice of its. "Get her my pets!"

The next few minutes were a hazy, violent blur to Tatsuki. She ducked under a kick, only to receive a shot from another man in the gut. As she went back, she snapped her leg up, connecting solidly with the first one's chin. Tatsuki gave as good as she got, even better in most cases. Shortly, all of the 'puppets' were down. "Is that all you've got?!" she yelled at the squid thing.

"Not nearly." The voice said, and a new hand grabbed Tatsuki's shoulder. She spun around, primed to deliver a fist into the face of whoever had her. But the person gripping her shoulder with that terrifyingly strong grip was-

"Chizuru?!" she gasped.

"Run." Chizuru whispered, sounding like it was taking all her energy just to say the few words she was getting out. "Run, Tatsuki."

But it was too late, as the squid-thing finally decided to actually get involved. It sat back and launched a concentrated blast out of it's forehead. The blast, full of the seeds that seemed to be sprouting out of everyone else, impacted the karate user hard, knocking her down and out of the fight. "Tatsuki!" Orihime yelled.

Orihime really didn't know what the creature said. All she really knew was that Tatsuki was down, and had been downed hard. The creature seemed to be gloating, but all she could focus on was her best friend, slowly falling to the ground. With a thud, Tatsuki hit. From her current position, she could see the moment the black haired girl hit the ground. And she knew that as soon as Tatsuki hit the ground, she was trying to rise again.

"No." she said, her words surprising even herself. "This time, I'll protect you, Tatsuki." Turning, she faced the squid-monster, and repeated almost the exact same words Tatsuki had used before. "I don't forgive anyone who lays their hands on Tatsuki!"

Her hairpins gleamed, even though there was no direct sun on them. And the whole landscape of the battle changed.

."What?" The eerie voice exclaimed. "What're those little bird things?"

Orihime looked around, confused. "Where?"

"YOU MEAN YOU WEREN'T AWARE OF THEM?!"

A new voice sounded out. "No, she is aware." Orihime looked up, and spotted six tiny looking birds circling here. "She must be aware of our existence. After all, we are those closest to her." Five of them landed on her shoulder, and stood up. They weren't birds after all. They were faeries. "Nice ta meet ya, Orihime!" The one in the middle exclaimed. "We're the _**Shun Shun Rikka **_(Shield of Six Dancing Flowers), born to protect you! We're your power!"

Over the next few moments, the one in the middle attempted to convey to Orihime that they weren't "Winged Midgets", they were her power and ability. But all of a sudden, the sixth one booted her in the head. "THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR EASY GOING SELF-INTRODUCTIONS, DAMN TOP-KNOTTED CAPTAIN!!"

"Owww… That, hurt, Tsubaki!"

"Of course! It was a painful kick! Don't speak so timidly!" Turning, the scary male faerie faced Orihime. "Hey, Woman! It's not necessary for you to know who we are and where we come from! What you have to know is how to handle us. That's all!"

At Orihime's confused look, one of the other faeries piped up, talking about Incantations and the mind. Question marks practically appeared around Orihime's head, showing exactly how much of this she understood. "Look!" Tsubaki yelled. "It's coming."

The squid monster reared back, preparing another blast like the one that took down Tatsuki. Knowing Orihime had know Idea what to do, three of the faeries took up positions. "We have to say their names, and then the incantation. So, repeat after me. "Hinagiku! Baigon! Lily!" Orihime stuttered out the names. As she did, each of the three faeries in formation began glowing. "_**Santen Kesshun! **_(Combined Shield of the Heavenly Trio) I reject!"

In response to her words, a shield formed in the shape of a triangle, protecting her and Tatsuki from the blast. "Their ability," The helpful one said. "is to reject 'the outer shield'. They create a shield between you and your enemy, and they 'reject' the attack you receive."

As the squid gasped in confusion, the faerie continued. "Your next ability is to reject 'the inner shield'. We reject damage within a limited area. In other words, we heal something you wish fixed." Two faeries, including the one talking, landed on either side of Tatsuki. "I'm Shonou. She's Ayame."

Orihime began getting her stride in ordering around her little faeries. "Shunou, Ayame, _**Souten Kishun! **_(Return Shield of the Heavenly Duo) I reject!" Instantly, a cocoon of light sprouted up around Tatsuki, restoring her to her shape before she had gotten attacked. A small gasp escaped Orihime's mouth as she marveled at the power her new little friends contained.

"It's my turn, woman!" The gruff Tsubaki barked. "My ability is to 'reject' on both sides of the shield. I shoot to the middle of them, create a shield, and then reject the union of matter. In short, I split the bastard in two! Now, woman, my turn. I'm Tsubaki, in case you missed it."

"Tsubaki!" Orihime barked, the male fairy darting out in response to her words. "_**Koten Zanshun! **_(Cutting Shield of the Heavenly One) I REJECT!" The faerie flew right into the middle of the still confused squid, and a glowing wall of light suddenly bisected it.

"Good job, Orihime!" Shonou exclaimed. But then she noticed that their wielder had fallen, unconscious. "I guess you need experience to handle our power. You rest, Orihime. When you need us…" Two hairpins shaped like flowers, each with three petals, fell to the ground. "We'll be there."

No sooner had the faeries dissipated, then Tatsuki sat up, rubbing her eyes like she'd been asleep for years. "Ok, what'd I miss?" She asked no one in particular.

A deep gravely voice spoke from the roof of the building. "Apparently, the final few minutes of your life!"

With years stemming from years of martial arts training, Tatsuki did an impressive kip up, landing on her feet in, surprisingly, the first stance Naruto had taught her of Konoha Taijutsu. Looking up, she quickly spotted the speaker. It was, to put it simply, huge. It was quite possibly twice the size of the squid thing. It stood on four stock legs, each ending in a wickedly clawed foot. Its head shared the beady and evil black eyes of the squid thing, but that's where the similarity ended. If Tatsuki had seen it grazing in the wild, she would have thought it was a demonic rhino.

The thing jumped down from the room with a bang, creating a small crater where it landed in front of Tatsuki. "So, little girl, time to die!" it shouted gleefully, and charged. With a hop, Tatsuki jumped out of it's way. But it changed direction, managing a pinhead turn better then anything that size should, and continued charging at her.

"Fuck!" she yelled, and rolled to the side. Again, it turned on a dime, continuing to come after her. 'I can't keep this up for long! I've gotta do something, something fast!' She looked around, spying Orihime lying on the ground. 'If I don't, however Hime beat that other thing won't mean a thing. It'll kill me, then move on to her! What can I do?'

The thing noticed where her eyes had gone, and turned it's head, following her gaze. "A-Ha." It said, and charged directly at Orihiime's prone form.

'NO!" she screamed, and without thought, interposed herself between the two. 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!' she kept thinking, but kept herself in between the evil rhino and her best friend.

Suddenly, the wind flared up and the rhino-thing skidded to a halt. It cocked it's head, rather like a confused dog would at something it didn't quite understand. It couldn't really be blamed for not understanding what it was seeing, as Tatsuki really had no idea what was going on in the first place.

But if she could have seen herself, Tatsuki would have been mildly terrified. An orange aura had been created around her body, glowing and pulsing. The Aura suddenly shrank and solidified, becoming like orange gloves of light around her fist. Tatsuki jumped as she looked at her hands. "W-what is this?!" she cried.

'_Use it..._' a voice seemed to whisper to her. Oddly, Tatsuki's hands took a position they'd never been in before. Fingers intertwined, palms together, index fingers extened. '_The Tiger…_' That same voice whispered. Suddenly, Tatsuki's lungs felt like they were on fire. Without thinking, she inhaled deeply, and exhaling a huge blast of fire! The rhino was caught off guard, and barely jumped out of the way. Still it caught it on the shoulder area, blackening and burning one of it's joints.

"Whoa." Tatsuki said, looking down at her hands, still in the same position. 'Is this the 'tiger position'?' she thought, and got the sense that something was nodding over her shoulder. 'And it lets me breathe fire?!'

'_Among other things_'

Noticing the rhino gearing up for another charge, Tatsuki hurriedly thought 'Are there any others?' Her hands moved quickly into another position without her telling them what to do. This time, it was simple, with her bending her elbows, palms meeting horizontally. '_The Monkey_' it explained, and Tatsuki didn't have any time to yell at it about not giving anymore information. The rhino charged, and using speed she didn't know she possessed, she grabbed Orihime and rolled out of the way, leaving the rhino-creature to crash right into the side of a building.

'So, this one gives me improved speed and strength?' Again, the nodding feeling came to her. Unfortunately, at that time, Tatsuki began feeling woozy, and the world began to blur.

'_You have enough in you for one more, so give it a try!_' the voice exclaimed, and Tatsuki found her hands moving back to the tiger position. Inhaling, she held her breath until she couldn't take it anymore, and then expelled a fireball that was over twice her size! No sooner had the rhino extricated itself from the building, then it was vaporized by white fire.

None too soon, as Tatsuki fell over, once again unconscious.

* * *

Five blocks away, Yasutora Sado, Chad to his friend, bunched up his fist. 'The will to protect…' he thought, and turned to face the giant blur behind him. All of a sudden, energy swirled around his right arm, encasing it in armor like that a of a giant. With a roar and a swing, a blast of energy flew out of Chad's armor-encased fist, blasting a clean hole right through the pig-monster that was chasing him. Turning again, he saw Ichigo's little sister gaping at him. With the last of his energy, he gave her a thumbs-up. He didn't quite hear what she said, but he translated it to 'YOU IDIOT' when she punted him in the face. Falling unconscious, he thought 'She kicks just like her brother.'

* * *

Ichigo and Uryu, having forgone their petty rivalry, were back to back, facing off hordes of hollows. But all the hollows turned, and faced the sky. "What the hell are they doing?!" Ichigo asked incredulously. 

Uryu pushed his glasses back up further onto his face. "It almost looks like they're… awaiting their god, or something. See, all the sky rifts are converging!"

Rukia, looking up at the sky, thought 'That's not right! It should be bigger, with this many hollows!' She looked around, and sure enough, found another place in the sky where several small rifts were converging. 'I've gotta go see what's going on!' she thought as she bounded towards the smaller one.

Naruto, however, didn't need to move at all to get to the second rift. After all, he was right under it. He was so close to it that he could count the number of rifts which had gone into this one. Eight. 'Shit. Shit. Shit.' He chanted mentally, almost like a mantra. 'I'm not ready for this yet!' Through some odd circumstance, it seemed that Naruto simply being on this plane when this much bait was spread around had become like a beacon to the remaining pieces of Kyuubi.

A giant, feral, and white, foxhead came through the rift. Two front legs, wickedly clawed, followed it. The two pulled against the sky, straining to pull the rest of it's immense body out. Soon enough, the entirety of Kyuubi-Hollow came out of the sky, and landed, slavering in front of Naruto.

Right away, Naruto noticed three major differences between Kyuubi and Kyuubi as a hollow. Well, besides the white color scheme and huge hole in the chest. First, it had no sign of the intelligence that it had once shown in it's malevolent eyes. It was wholly consumed by rage and madness. Second, it only had eight tails. As Naruto had measured Kyuubi's power by its tails, that meant it was weaker then it had been originally. Finally, it was smaller then Kyuubi was. The Kyuubi he recalled (barely) was tall enough to tower over even the Hokage's tower. This Kyuubi was smaller, though admittedly still huge. It was only half as tall as the nearby building, which would only make it four stories tall.

Naruto glared at it, his sword snapping out of its sheath. "Emerge from the Shadows, Shinobi!" He yelled, and the blade warped and twisted back into its usual shuriken shape. But Naruto took it a step further, and placed his free hand over his chest, where there was a tattoo shaped like a tulip. "LIFT THE LIMIT!" He screamed, and the mark disappeared. Naruto felt his full power surging through him, primed and ready.

With a roar, Kyuubi charged Naruto, mouth open to consume the person it vaguely remembered as harming it once before. Naruto, with a roar of his own, counter charged, Shinobi drawn back for a strike. The two met with the sound of metal meeting metal as Shinobi impacted one of Kyuubi's claws. Naruto jumped back and left fly, Shinobi flying towards Kyuubi's skull.

Contemptuously, Kyuubi batted the Zanpakuto aside, and roared, it's fetid breath washing all over the vice captain. Naruto stuck his hands together, chakra coursing through him. "_**Fuuton: Diatoppa! **_(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)" he screamed, and a gale force wind shot out of his palms, striking Kyuubi head on. The force of the wind drove the hollow back a few yards, but it was otherwise unharmed. Still, the temporary distraction gave Naruto the chance to flash step over to his blade and retrieve it.

Jumping into the air, Naruto barely dodged another swipe by Kyuubi's massive paw. Suddenly, he noticed the tips of all eight tales glinting. He barely got Shinobi up to block when they stabbed out like snakes, all seeking his heart. Instead, they hit the flat of his sword with enough force to sent Naruto flying back into a solid brick wall, which he broke through. His flight stopped when he managed to turn over in mid air, essentially flipping so he landed on his feet.

Far enough away from Kyuubi now, Naruto channeled pure reiatsu into Shinobi. Spinning it quickly, he used it as the barrel of a gun to shoot hundreds of small reiatsu bullets, all of which found their mark. Sadly, they had about as much strength as a pinprick to one as powerful as Menos Kyuubi.

Quickly, Naruto began chanting, attempting to perform one of the most powerful spells he knew. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Destructive Art 63! Thunder Roar Cannon!" A massive wave of yellow energy shot from Naruto's position, connecting solidly with Kyuubi.

When the energy cleared, Kyuubi looked a bit worse for wear. It had lost one paw to the attack, and the rest of it's body which had touched the energy was smoking. At least, for a bit. There was a shimmer and a warp in the air, and Kyuubi was suddenly standing there, looking as if it had never been touched before in it's life!

Rukia, waching the fight from the roof of a nearby three story building, felt a fly wander into her mouth. Coughing, it flew out angrily. Rukia didn't notice that much, as she was still watching the epic fight unfolding before her. It was a fight that she knew was beyond her level, and for the first time, she could see why Uzumaki Naurto was hailed as the 'Scion of the Shinigami'.

Kyuubi roared again, but this time, it seemed to have something besides feral rage in mind. A glowing orb of energy began to coalese in the maw of the beast, and Naruto backed up more, cursing. 'Damn, a Cero!' he thought. The blast soared towards him, connecting hard. The blow was softend, as Naruto had managed to fire a few deflecting Kido at it before hand, as well as get a spinning Shinobi in between the two.

Once again, Naruto returned to his familiar mantra. 'Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit!' he chanted, pushing himself back up onto his feet. 'Nothing I got can phase him right now. My most powerful Kido was regenerated in seconds. I can't get in close enough to hit him with a rasengan, which would be pointless anyway. What's my little wind orb going to do to something that size?!'

Naruto was, quite frankly, almost out of ideas. But he did have one left. 'Well, I'm going to die anyway.' He thought, and began the gamble.

'_That's the spirit!_' Shinobi thought to him.

He began going through a series of hand seals, Tiger, Dragon, and Horse repeatedly. But instead of firing a Goukakyu as he was tempted to, he began to chant. Ye Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, The sea barrier surges, March on to the south!" Reiatsu, summoned by the chant, met with chakra, summoned by the seals, and the two merged and connected. Naruto fastened them with the last little bit. "Destructive Art 31! Shot of Red Fire! _**Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu! **_(Fire Style: Grand Fireball). Combination Art One! Raging Hellfire!"

The first of Naruto's, as of five minutes ago, untested combination attacks ripped through the air. The power of the thirty-first destructive art met with the basic fire jutsu, creating an enourmous ball of white, red, and blue flames, all of which conneced squarely with Kyuubi.

'Damn!' Naruto thought, panting hard. That combination art had taken a great deal out of him! The smoke began to clear, and Naruto's heart sank as Kyuubi roared again. But this time, the roar sounded like pain. Once the smoke had completely cleared, Naruto gazed, shocked at the power of his art.

Kyuubi was almost dead. It had had all of it's legs and a good portion of its torso vaporized by the pure heat. The evil, white masked head was rolling it's eyes back into it's head with pain. But even weak as it was, Naruto simply couldn't walk over and destroy it. Hell, it's head was still bigger then he was! As he watched, the air around Kyuubi began to shimmer again, as it slowly began to attempt to regenerate itself.

Naruto thought fast, and began spinning Shinobi. As it spun, Naruto began sending wave after wave of chakra into it, using it as an extention of itself. Naruto jumped into the air, and put all of the remainder of his strength behind the throw as he cried "SHINOBI RASENGAN!" The giant shuriken moved faster and faster, and it developed the tell-tale orb of a rasengan around it right before in smashed directly into Kyuubi's forehead.

The ensuing explosion knocked both Naruto and Rukia down, and even made Uryu stumble as he drained Ichigo's reiatsu to save his life.

* * *

Two days later, Naruto was reclining in a chair in his apartment, attempting to open up a communication link between himself and Soul Society. He had been informed by Rukia exactly what had happened with Ichigo, and as far as he was concerened, anyone who could face down Menos Grande and send him backing with only help from a Quincy was worthy of being a Shinigami. 

"Hello?" A calm and peaceful voice said. Naruto fought to keep his eyes from narrowing.

"Hello, Captain Aizen. I was attempting to reach Captain Soifon."

"She happens to be indisposed at the moment. I'd be happy to help you out in any way that you requre right now, Vice Captain Uzumaki."

Naruto groaned. He really didn't want to do this, but he had to give his report to someone. "Ok, I have a handle on what happened down here. On a patrol, Kuchiki Rukia of the thirteenth division attemptied to do a partial power transfer to one Kurosaki Ichigo, a human teen extremly strong in Reiatsu. Due to unforseen circumstances, Kurosaki managed to achieve full Shinigaimi status, while Kuchiki only has the barest hint of her power remaining. My recommmendation is this: Kuchiki be brought back to Soul Society, given a weeks probation, and allow her to go back on active duty."

"As for Kurosaki, I recommend he be brought to Seireitei, and trained in how to properly use his powers. He is far too valuable to allienate, and if he patroled around this district, it would save us considerable manpower."

"Your suggestions and findings have been noted, Vice Captain Uzumaki. Stand by and maintain your cover until contacted. Soul Society Out."

Naruto groaned. Why did he have a sinking feeling in his stomach?

Back at Soul Society, Aizen flicked two switches. One summoned all shinigami captains to the meeting room, while the other activated a contingecy plan he had been saving for Uzumaki's next mission on earth. Quickly, Aizen strode before the rest of the captains. Yama went straight to the heart of the matter, and asked "Aizen, why have you called this meeting?"

Aizen lowered his head, and shook it from side to side. "Comrades. Friends. Bretheren. It is with great sorrow that I report that Kuchiki seems to have turned to a wrong side, and has taken one of our number. It seems, dear captains…. That Kuchiki Rukia has assassinated Uzumaki Naruto, Vice Captain of the Second Division of the Seireitei…"

* * *

A/N: Come on. Try to tell me that didn't shock you. I personally am very proud of that chapter. Review please!

EDIT: Ok, I've gotten many reviews stating that they've found holes in Aizen's final plot. Trust me, all will be revealed...


	7. The Road to the Top

New Chapter!

Just so you are all aware, snippits of my stories (and some exclusive ones) will be found in both Rokudaime (My Own Naruto Archive, the link is my homepage in my profile), and The Fanfiction Forum, run by Hawk.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was, at the moment, very bored. After all, he had received orders to stand down until he was contacted by any shinigami whatsoever. And without his usual hollow-slaying duties, and none of his friends to talk to, Naruto truly had nothing to do in the living world. So, he was reduced to doing homework assigned by the school. While his gigai was programmed to know the answers to any question asked, there were some things he had to do for himself, like this information sheet.

"Hobbies… training my body and mind." Naruto mused out loud, writing down his answers as he spoke. "Known Family… None. Motto? Who the hell wants to know my motto? But, hey… 'When in doubt, burn it out'." Naruto finished his writing and straightened out, laughing over his last answer. "Let them try to puzzle that one out!" he crowed victoriously, laughing at the confusion that was sure to spawn from his answer. But he cut himself off mid-laugh, stiffening, his hands tightening so much that they broke the pencil he had been writing with.

'Reiatsu. Strong signals. Close. No more then three miles away.' Naruto sniffed the air, as if trying to smell the reiatsu that had suddenly appeared. 'Smells like Byakuya, and is that Ikkaku?' A few more mental sniffs later, and he was sure it was. 'What the hell are those two doing here? It can't be to give me orders. They would have just contacted me directly if that was the case.' Naruto stiffened more, if that was at all possible, as he felt a distinctly different signal rise.

'That's Uryu!' he thought, and immediately popped in one of his temporary souls. He had no sooner managed to emerge from the confines of his gigai, then Uryu's signal died down to almost nothing. 'What the hell is going on?' he asked himself, a sinking feeling beginning to emerge in his gut. As Naruto took to the rooftops, another familiar signal flared. 'Ichigo now? Seriously, something is wrong here…'

As he neared the source of the energy, Ichigo's suddenly died completely. Naruto felt his body unconsciously speed up, as he began his familiar monologue of 'FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!' He skidded to a stop, panting lightly, at the place where all the energy had been coming from. A quick look around showed what was happening. Uryu was lying on the ground, bleeding heavily. Byakuya and Ikkaku were trying to push a struggling Rukia through a large gateway, as Ichigo, who was in a far worse condition then Uryu, struggled to crawl after them. Rukia's words carried to the blonde shinigami, who blanched at what he was hearing.

"… and I've never killed anyone! I don't even know what a Vizard is! Nii-sama, you have to believe me on this! I admit, I gave my powers to a non-shinigami, but I never killed Vice-Captain Uzumaki!" She was practically screaming.

"Tell it to Sokyoku." Ikkaku said, though not maliciously or evilly. His tone was simply that of a soldier who was carrying out his orders to his fullest extent. But Ikkaku tensed, and spun around, staring directly at Naruto. Though his face remained unchanged, his eyes hardened more then Naruto thought possible, and his jaw clenched. "Captain Kuchiki. We have a visitor."

Byakuya nodded, never turning away from the gateway. "I am aware, Madarame. I noticed him the moment he began moving. It seems that the Vizard creation can mimic even the exact feel of Uzumaki's reiatsu."

Hearing the words 'Vizard', 'Uzumaki', and 'Mimic' in the same sentence, Naruto assumed a defensive stance as the feeling of wrongness intensified in his gut. "What the hell is going on here?! Why are two humans down, and what are you talking about, Vizard?!"

Ikkaku put his hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing to draw it. But Byakuya shook his head minutely, and Ikkaku stood at attention once again, though reluctantly. Byakuya deigned to look backwards over his shoulder at the still shocked Naruto. "False beings," he said dismissively, and absently pushed Rukia through the gateway. "Simply aren't worth my time." Before Naruto could puzzle out what the cryptic captain had meant, there was a flash of light, and the two shinigami disappeared.

Naruto, still baffled, sheathed Shinobi once again. "What the fuck?" he mused out loud. Suddenly, he spun around, Shinobi drawn again and resting on the interlopers neck. Naruto's eyes widened. "YOU!" he breathed.

* * *

In the second division, there were many rules regarding their captain. One of them was if she closed her door, you simply do not touch it. But many of Soifon's subordinates were tempted to break this rule, for all of them cared about their captain a great deal. She was strong, beautiful, and had an icy demeanor, but she genuinely respected them and honored their wishes. And that was rare in a captain.

But hearing muffled sobs from the normally stoic ice queen was testing even the most resolute shinigami. She was hurt, and she was crying, and one could only think it was because of the captain's and vice-captain's meeting that had resulted in the Captain of the Sixth and the Third Seat of the Eleventh being sent out. They had no idea how true it was, nor how many of them would be tempted to repeat her actions when the contents of the meeting were released the next day.

Inside her office, Soifon sobbed into her hands as the meeting she had just had replayed itself in her head. The one that had ripped her world apart- again.

_Aizen lowered his head, and shook it from side to side. "Comrades. Friends. Bretheren. It is with great sorrow that I report that Kuchiki seems to have turned to a wrong side, and has taken one of our number. It seems, dear captains…. That Kuchiki Rukia has assassinated Uzumaki Naruto, Vice Captain of the Second Division of the Seireitei…"_

_Immediately, the hand of the tenth division's vice-captain slammed down on the table, cutting of Aizen. "LIES!" Rangiku hissed, glaring with palpable rage at the fifth's captain. Before she could say more, Hitsugaya touched her arm, and her mouth swang shut like a steel trap._

_The old general of the Seireitei raised his hand as well, silencing all those who were about to speak. "Aizen, how is it possible that you know this?" he asked, his deep voice reflecint his concern and curiosity._

_Aizen, facing Rangiku, bowed his head. "My apologies, Matsumoto-san, but I bear nothing but the truth to this meeting." He turned, facing Yamamoto once again. "General, you do recall the conversation my vice-captain and I had with you weeks ago? The one about our new project?" The old man nodded, and Aizen continued._

_"For the rest of you, weeks ago, my vice-captain Hinamori brought an idea to my attention. It revolved around the gigai created by the twelth division. I believe she thought of it when Uzumaki returned from his last mission in such terrible shape. She came up with the suggestion of placing triggers in the gigai that would activate once a shinigami left it. If a Shinigami was out of the gigai for more then half-an-hour, it would automatically unleash a distress beacon, alerting us that the shinigami on duty was in trouble. It would also relay the shinigami's status to us, using the gigai itself as a relay beacon."_

_"Using these triggers and beacons, which Vice-Captain Hinamori and I had implanted, we have managed to save four shinigami from sure destruction in the past three weeks."_

_"That brings us to how I discovered Uzumaki's demise. At appproximatly Four O'Clock this afternoon, Uzumaki exited his gigai. This coincides with the massive surge of hollows to his location, so it can be assumed that he did so to counteract these hollows. Half an hour later, his distress beacon activated on my screen. I immediately went to the central hub, to find that the monior screens were devoid of any personel whatsoever." Here, the captain cast a glare at Mayuri._

_The spindly mad scientist returned the look at his equal. "My men sometimes have better things to be doing then staring at screens all day. It seems that they had a breakthrough on Nemu 3.4, and had no desire to leave their work."_

_"Clones, and tracking, and beacons… Get to the damn point!" Rangiku practically screamed, fed up with the dramatic build up that Aizen was unconciouslly creating._

_Aizen bowed his head in apology, and continued. "As I was saying, I hastened to the central hub, and quickly located Uzumaki's Reiatsu sensor. I called for backup to go to him, but, as you know, the hub is in the middle of the twelth division compound, and it seems that they were too busy cloning to do anything. I watched as Uzuamki valiently off hordes of hollows, finally managing to take out what seemed to be a low level Menos."_

_"But then, as Uzumaki seemed done, a new reiatsu signal appeared nearby him. It was clearly labeled 'Kuchiki Rukia', and it was the first time it had appeared since she vanished months ago. As she did, an amalgamation of what appeared to be Shinigami Energy and Hollow Energy appeared as well. The two reached close proximity to Uzumaki, and moments later, his Reiatsu Signal turned black."_

_The entire table, or at least those who cared, paled. Everyone knew what it meant when someone's reiatsu signal turned black. The Shinigami had passed on to whatever realm lay beyond the Soul Society, and possibly rejoined the creator. But Aizen wasn't done yet. "But it did not stay black for long. Moments later, the amalgamation, which I believe to be a Vizard, vanished completely, and Uzumaki's signal began to beep again. I checked the gigai tracker, and it was again functioning like everything was normal. But 'Uzuamki's' reiatsu doesn't glow blue like it used to. Even now, it glows purple. The color of the Vizard."_

_Everyone sat, digesting that for a moment, before Renji broke the silence. "What exactly are you saying, Captain?"_

_Aizen sighed, as if it pained him to repeat himself. "It is my conclusion that Uzumaki was killed by Kuchiki Rukia and a Vizard, and then replaced by the Vizard so no one would notice the difference. Perhaps, when 'Uzumaki' was recalled, they would have put more of their plan into motion, and perhaps handed Soul Society itself over to others of it's ilk."_

_The next to speak out, surprisingly, was Byakuya. "You have no proof." He began, his voice taking on an undertone of anger. "No proof whatsoever that Rukia was invovled in this. All you know is that she was in the same vicinity."_

_Aizen spread his hands in a pleading gesture. "Captain Kuchiki, you cannot let your familial ties blind you to this matter. A mysteriously vanishing shinigami does not reappear moments before a vice-captain was killed for no reason." Seeing that Byakuya was un-swayed, Aizen shook his head. "At the very least, she will know something. I suggest that we arrest her, and charge her with the murder of the vice-captain, as well as the reiatsu transfer we know she was guilty of. We will give her a fair trial by the Chamber of Fourty-Six."_

_At that, Byakuya looked marginally less stoic. Gin, captain of the third, spoke next. "So that nothing happens to her, why don't we send down Captain Six over there? He wouldn't do nothing to hurt his sister before it's found out that she's guilty."_

_Yamamoto nodded. "True, true. Aizen, I suggest we all look at the records of this incident, according to the reiatsu and gigai monitors before we do anything at all."_

* * *

Sure enough, everything had played out exactly as Aizen had said. And Soifon, as she howled her greif, truly wished that it hadn't.

Back in his own quarters, Aizen toasted himself for a job well done. It had been a challenge to pull that off, but he thrived on challenges. All it had taken was a quick whisper to Kyoka Suigetsu, and the unwitting help of one Hinamori Momo.

_As Aizen walked to the twelth division briskly, alerted by the beacon in Uzumaki's gigai, he sent a telepathic whisper to his trusty Zanpakuto. A sense of agreement flooded him, and he surpressed a smile as he headed towards the hub._

_In the fifth division compound, deep within her quarters, Hinamori Momo sat up straight, her attention changing from her paperwork. Her mind went blissfully blank as she stood up and bounded out of her window, too fast for all but the strongest shinigami to see. She easily over took Aizen, and moments later, entered the hub of the twelth division._

_A few moments later, and she was done. From one of the terminals in the hub, she had done what no one had ever thought to have done before: altered the screen. Feverishly, Momo's body entered command after command into the terminal, each one set on a time delay and rerouted through so many different machines that it was impossible to tell that it had been created, instead of just happening._

_Hearing footsteps approacing, Momo's body leapt out the window again, emerging back in her own room minutes later. She settled back in her chair, and the blssful haze snapped. "What?" she asked outloud. "Did I space out again? I'd better finish this, or Captain Aizen will have more work to do!" Hinamori reattacked her paperwork with new vigor._

_In the Twelth Division Hub, Aizen allowed a small smile to escape him as he watched his scripted scene unfold._

Aizen drank a small bit of liqor, an indulgence he almost never allowed. After all, liqor inhibited and clouded the senses, and that he could not allow. But it had been child's play after the meeting. The only thing that didn't happen according to his plans was Byakuya attempting to bring his Vice-Captain with him when he went to retreive his sister. But that had been quashed quickly by a comment from Tousen that that would be unwise, as Renji had a deep attachment to the deceased, and might act out his rage before they managed to learn anything. Luckily, a suitable substitute was found in the 11th's third seat.

Aizen raised his glass once again, toasting the invisible air that he imagined was Uzumaki. Right now, he was probably just about to discover that his Zanpakuto's teleportation function had been disabled by Aizen himself. "Thank you, Uzumaki." He said to the empty air. "Thank you for giving me another step to the pinnacle of the world."

* * *

Under Naruto's angry cerulean gaze, the man squirmed. Trying to act as if he hadn't noticed the feral snarl, the glare, or the blade at his throat., Urahara Kisuke grinned. "Hello, shinigami-san!" He chimed in a sing-song voice. "I'm Urahara Kisuke, everyone's favorite Sexy Shopkeeper!" Somehow, when he said that, he managed to produce a fan from nowhere that said 'Sexy Shopkeeper' on it. "Do I know you?"

Naruto refrained from growling again, but neither his sword or stare wavered. "No, I can't say you do. In fact, the only reason I really know about you is because of the breifing all shinigami of any seat get." In deliberatly measured tones, Naruto continued. "It should please you to know, Urahara-san, that your name and picture are held up as textbook examples of how power corrupts, and sometimes there are boundries that one just shouldn't cross."

"So…" Urahara said, trying to find something to talk about after that unexpected speech. "What're you mad about? Is the the gigai that decreases Reiatsu, eventually eliminating it all together? Was it the freaky orb I accidently made that, for lack of better terms, hollowficates? Was it the process I created of hiding items in souls? Please, I always like feedback on my work."

The Vice-Captain's eyes narrowed further. "They're all scarily brilliant pieces of engineering, and you did a far sight better that the current nutjob is doing in charge of the twelth. But I'm not here to talk shop with you. Where. The Fuck. Is. She?"

This, now this seemed to surprise Urahara. After all, this young shinigami was full of rage, but it didn't seem to be directed at him. Or, well, most of it didn't seem to be directed at him. And there was only one 'she' he knew who a shinigaimi would know at all. But to be sure, he asked "She?"

"Don't play dumb with me." Naruto practically hissed. Oh yes, this shinigami certainly was angry. "Where is Yoruichi?!" Sensing what the man in the hat was about to say, Naruto cut him off. "Why do I want to know? Personally, I don't give a fuck either way about you. You're some scientist who went a bit too far. But her… I can't stomach traitors like her!"

Urahara cleared his throat meekly. "Um… Shinigami-san? I could either tell you all about Yoruichi-chan, and we could have a complex discussion about your feelings, and what caused this. Or, you can remove the sword, and I can go make sure Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun live through the night." Still eying the man with odd footwear, Naruto slowly slid his Zanpakuto back into his sheath. Urahara calmly walked towards the two, and Naruto stood back to watch.

Naruto sat back as Urahara exchanged a few words with Uryu, who had got up and walked away under his own power. But Ichigo… Ichigo was merely lying on his back, staring up at the cloudy sky. His left hand clasped the broken hilt that had used to be a seven-foot long Zanpakuto, and he seemed to be paying no attention to anything that was going on around him. With a snap of his fingers, Urahara rendered him unconcious. The odd former captain bent down, and began attempting to pick the substitute shinigami up.

As he struggled under his burden, Naruto spun around and faced the empty air. With a thrust of his blade, he attempted to split the air open to recreate a gateway. But it was like he was just… well, stabbing air. Naruto stared at Shinobi incredulously. Breaching the barrier between Soul Society and Earth was one of the most mundane abilities of the Zanpakuto, and also the simplest to pull off.

"But…" Naruto mused outloud. "It's also the only ability that is monitored by Soul Society. Each Zanpakuto is embued with a key that opens the barrier on it's creation. It's impossible for it not to be working! The only way that that could happen would be by-"

"Someone spesifically going into the twelth division and removing your Zanpakuto from the mainframe. If that happens, no amount of trying can break open the barrier." Urahara finished. Naruto looked over his shoulder, where the man had finished picking up Ichigo. The man gazed at the Vice-Captain, and said "I will be opening up a hole in the barrier a month from tomorrow. If you want to get back home, tell me, and I'll send directions to you."

Before Naruto could say anything, Urahara continued. "I expect that the following people will be coming: Ichigo. Orihime. Chad. Uryu. Tatsuki. And Yoruichi." Naruto stiffened at each name, before visibly relaxing and nodding at Urahara.

"If it's the only way, I have no choice but to take it."

"True. True." Urahara said. "But I will need your name if I'm going to send you the directions. That's all."

Naruto nodded, and began to walk away. "Uzumaki Naruto, Vice-Captain of the Second Divison of the Thirteen Guard Courts and Captain Soifon. Remember it." With a flash, he was gone.

Urahara blinked into the rain. "Well… that explains a lot!" he said brightly, before running back towards the shop as fast as he could.

* * *

The month passed slowly, too slowly for Naruto. Sure, he had spare time now to practice making stuff go boom. He also had enough time left to recover from the vicious battle with the Hollow-Kyuubi. But he had too much time to think, and wonder what was happening with Sasuke. With the Sand Siblings. With Team Gai, Jiraya, Tsunade, The Old Hokage, Renji, Momo, and… Rangiku… and Soifon. Naruto's hand clenched around his sword hilt as he thought about what could possibly be happening to them. For something was definitly wrong in Soul Society.

Naruto was startled out of his thoughts by a loud splat next to him. He looked down, dispassionatly, as he saw letters appearing in bright red liquid. "Gather outside of Urahara Shoten immediately! And if you think this is written in Murder Victim's blood, you have no sense of humor." The blonde snarled, and jumped out of his window. "Damn theatrics!" He said to himself. "If he wanted me to go to Urahara Shoten today, he could have just said something!"

Five minutes of running through the streets brought Naruto to the door proudly labeled 'Urahara Shoten'. Seeing no one else around, he shrugged and walked inside. The doors within were open, and there was a helpful sign that said "All Spiritual Beings go this way!" with a little smiley-face wearing that odd hat on it. Again, Naurto shook his head and followed the directions.

The signs led him to a large underground training area, or at least that's what it looked like. As Naruto walked into it, he saw Urahara standing near a stone doorway that was almost certainly the portal. Gathered around it were all the people Urahara had said would be there, including one small black cat. Naurto bit his cheek, surpressing his instinct to charge, and walked over behind the group. As he walked, he heard Urahara say "Hold on, we have a few minutes before the portal opens anyway. Besides, we happen to still be waiting for one more."

Ichigo looked around at his group, counting. "We have Chad, Orihime, Uryu, Tatsuki, Yoruichi-san… I thought that was all of us."

"Not Quite." The entire group spun around, just in time to see Naruto pop a piece of the Soul Candy into his mouth. The group looked on, stunned, as Naruto rose from his gigai in his complete Shinigami attire. Naruto bowed at them all, a shallow bow, but still one. "Sorry I'm late, but my blood spattered message came a bit late."

With a snarl, Uryu raised his hand and conjured his bow. He drew back an arrow, ready to fly at the actual shinigami. "Kurosaki, I could stand!" He practically roared. "This odd guy over here, I could take. But you! You're an actual shinigami, and I will take you-"

He was cut off as a sliver of steel appeared both infront and behind his neck. He tried not to swallow, as Naruto stretched from behind him. Shinobi, in all of it's released glory, was resting next to the Quincy's neck as if it had always been there. Naruto leaned over and calmly said "Listen, you're pretty good. I can admit that. But against a decently trained shinigami, you have little chance. But you're not dealing with a decently trained shinigami. You're dealing with me. And that means that you have no chance. If you need me to remind you, just ask. I've had a really bad month, and I can't wait to get some decent stress releif." He backed up slowly, leaving a far paler Uryu in place.

Ichigo managed to find his voice. "Uzumaki?! You're a shinigami?! How come you never told us?"

Before Naruto could say a word, Urahara clapped for attention. "Excuse me, but you'll have to have this out later. The gateway is opening… now!"

A purple shimmer wavered into existance, and without thought, Ichigo charged through. Chad was seconds behind him, and Uryu was through moments later. The girls, however, hesitated a moment, giving Naruto a chance to look into both of their eyes. Orihime's were the same as usual, though they seemed to hold some joy for some reason. Tatsuki, on the other hand, was a storm cloud. Her eyes shone with what seemed to be an unholy union of rage and hurt. The moment was over, and the two girls ran in.

The long tunnel from the living world to Soul Society was simple and uneventful. Well, it would have been uneventful, except for three reasons. The first was that Tatsuki kept glancing at the blonde shinigami with hurt eyes. The second was that Uryu tried to assasinate him again. Again, the attempt was unsuccessful, but this time, Ichigo slapped Uryu upside the head. That led to the third reason why the trip was actually quite eventuful: the distraction caused by Uryu being a twit led to a rare 'cleaner' catching up with them, which had the sole goal of cleansing the tunnel by vaporizing all trash within.

Against everyone's better judgement (even her own), Orihime had errected a hasty shield, which blasted them all straight through the other end of the tunnel. Upon impact on the familiar ground, Naruto didn't waste anytime listening to the girl being berated by a certain cat, except to finally wonder 'Why is kitty here anyway?', and surveyed his surroundings. The clean, well-kept area clearly told him where he was. He sniffed the air, inhaling the closest smell he'd had to one of home recently. "Ah…" he said, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Welcome to Soul Society."

The others all looked at him, some with dawning comprehension. "Wait!" Ichigo gasped, as if an idea had just hit him. "You're from here! You can show us the best ways to get in and save Rukia!" The following moment was occupied by everyone (except Chad and Orihime, as they were too nice) sending Ichigo what could only be described as a 'Duh!' look.

Naruto nodded, and began to explain to those who didn't know where they were. "This is _Junrinan, _the first district of Rukongai. Rukongai is where most of the souls reaped go. They get divided up into one of eighty districts, and each has it's own… flavor, for lack of a better word. _Junrinan_ is closest to Seireitei, where all the Shinigami are, so it's in the best condition."

Ichigo broke through Naruto's lecture with a question. "You say all the Shinigami are in the Seireitei place? Where is it?" Naruto pointed to the left, and everyone turned, as if on a swivel. Sure enough, the pure gleaming white buildings of the Shinigami headquarters was only yards away. Ichigo grinned, and sprinted in the gestured direction, ignoring dual cries for him to stop from the Vice Captain and the Cat.

Sure enough, by charging in, Ichigo had triggered the first line of defense of Seireitei. Gleaming white walls crashed down,. stopping Ichigo from going any further. Out of a cloud of dust, a booming voice emerged. "In order to get through, you must challenge me!" A giant of a man emerged, cloathed in black and steel, though he was wearing an odd fezz on his head. Jidanbo, the west gatekeeper, had arrived.

Naruto opened his mouth, ready to either berate the the substitute shinigami for being a moron (even though Shinobi sneezed something that sounded like 'hypocrite' inside of him), or order Jindanbo to stand down. Even he didn't know what he was about to do, and it didn't matter, as Ichigo was already screaming at the giant to let him through. The Second Division Second in Command groaned, as he could easily see where this was going.

As Ichigo drew his Zanpakuto against the giant, Naruto stood with the others. Unlike the others, who were either cheering or watching with interest, Naruto was shaking his head. Orihime, the only person talking to him (Though Chad was just a quiet guy), asked "What's wrong, Naruto-san?"

Naruto gestured towards the now battling pair. "That! That's my problem!" At the confused looks he was gettting, Naruto shook his head again, this time in exasperation. "He's using that thing like a sword at best, an axe at worst! Sure, with that stratagy, he might overwhelm a few lesser seats, but anyonw who matters will dissect him in thirty seconds!"

Tatsuki looked from Ichigo (who was currently talking with the gatekeeper as the latter retreived his second axe) to the clearly annoyed Naruto. "What's wrong with using it like a sword?" She asked, her curiosity temporarily overwhelming her anger. "It is one, isn't it?"

But it wasn't Naruto who answered this time. Instead, the little black cat at their feet spoke up. "A Zanpakuto is far more then a sword, Tatsuik-san. It is a manifestation of one's very soul, and should be weilded as an extention of one's body. In addition, while he may be using it as a sword, Ichigo is merely a mediocre swordsman."

Once again, Naruto stopped talking and began watching the fight. Or, he tried to be realizing what was about to happen. In a flash, Shinobi was between Zangetsu and the axes, saving the latter from a quick and painless end. "Don't hurt the hardware!" he snarled, then jumped baqck. "Do you know how hard it is to make those things?!" he asked Ichigo. "You have to get good soul steel, forge the heads, treat them with several types of reiatsu, mount the heads on wood, which, by the way, is almost impossible to get up here!"

Finished with his diatribe, Naruto spun on Jindanbo. "And you!" he roared, louder then he had at Ichigo. "What have I told you about that style?! It's full of holes, and any good combat style needs more then brute force!" Once again, he ignored the call of 'hypocrite' from his outspoken Zanpakuto, and finished up with "Ayame will never like someone who gets beaten up so easily", playing of the giants well-documented crush on the ramen stand girl. Panting heavily, he stopped ranting, ignorinig the many sets of wide eyes trained on him.

Jindanbo looked at him like he'd seen a ghost, or at least something that he didn't deal with on a regular basis. "Vice Captain Uzumaki!" he gaped. "But you're dead!"

Naruto groaned and hung his head. "Why does everyone think that?! I mean, I've only been close to being killed a few times, and…" Naruto took off on a long rant as Jindanbo was slowly becoming more and more convinced that this was, in fact, Uzumaki Naruto. After all, who else could ramble like this?

Jindanbo finally groaned out "Enough, Enough! You," he pointed at Ichigo, "Have proven yourself a worthy warrior. You," he gestured at Naruto, "Confuse me too much to not be genuine. I'll open the gate." The giant turned around, and began hoisting the massive gateway over his head. But he stopped midway, and his eyes bulged as he saw the shinigami standing behind the portal. "C-captain Ichimaru!" he stammered out.

Gin looked up at the gatekeeper, and shook one finger mockingly. "Uh, Uh, Uh." Gin said in the sing-song voice of his. "Gatekeepers aren't supposed to open the gates." Gin drew his sword and pointed it at Ichigo.

The subsitute shinigami snorted. "It's not tlike you're going to be able to hurt me from there with such a short sword."

Gin smirked wider, if that was at all possible. "This isn't a short sword. It's my Zanpakuto." Ichigo had one moment for that to register before Gin called "Shoot to kill, Shinso." The sword extended, lancing out like a bolt of silver death. Amazingly, Ichigo got his sword up, but the force of the shot still sent him flying.

Naruto felt a twinge of shock as Gin turned his slitted eyes on him. He had thought something was wrong, knew something was going on, but he had held out one kernel of hope that it was just some gigantic mistake. As Gin leveled his retracted blade at the blonde vice captain, he mouthed a sentence that took all of that hope away and made a chill run down his spine.

_Have a nice day, Vice Captain Uzumaki_.

The moment Gin was sure that the vice-captain had gotten the message, he grinned once again and whispered "Taint his blood, Shinso." Again, the sword shot out. But this time, the flash was a sickly green instead of silver. With an instinctual twist, Shinobi was moved to intercept. Shinso shot forth, dodging over the shuriken and buried itself in Naruto's shoulder. With a surprised grunt, Naruto looked down at the new hole in his body.

Gin waved cheekily and swung his Zanpakuto. Jindanbo's arms flew off in a gory spray, and the gateway slid down, blocking the entrance to the Seireitei.

Naruto had a couple of seconds to turn and shrug before he realized something was wrong. A heartbeat later, the ground rushed up to meet him, and all he saw was darkness.

* * *

As Naruto was falling to the ground, someone far across Seireitei stiffened. A chill had just run down Vice Captain Sarutobi's spine, and it only added to the distress he'd been feeling lately. And Sarutobi had not been some ordinary civilian in life. No, he had been Hokage, best and brightest ninja in all of Konohagakure. And Hokages did not get chills down their spine unless there was a damn good reason.

Something about this whole situation just didn't sit right with the old man, and he just couldn't figure out what it was. Everything about Aizen's story added up. The assassination, the power replacement, and there seemed to be no other alternative to the course of events that Aizen had outlined. But Naruto, no matter how bad of one he'd seemed, had been a ninja. And ninja, no matter how bad they seemed, did not get taken unaware.

With that in mind, Sarutobi stood up and walked out from his rooms in the first division headquarters. He was polite and formal to everyone he met as he walked in a slowly tightening circle to a simple, unremarkable building nestled between the second division headquarters and the the fourth's hospital.

After double checking, and confirming, that no one was following him, Sarutobi entered the building. Ten more minutes, three doorways, and seven different identification tests later, he was at his destination. It was the bleakest, blackest room within the entire compound. There were no windows, and no lights, and one could only see by focusing a presice amount of Reiatsu into one's eyes. Gathering his reiatsu to his throat as well, the former Hokage spoke, his words echoing with power. "I am Sarutobi Sasuke, Former Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure and Vice Captain of the First Division of the Seireitei, and I authorize the awakening of Division Fourteen."

Shadows pooled and formed into a man standing right before the wizened old Kage. The newly arrived shinigami grinned, and said "So, Old Man, what seems to be the problem?"

Before explaining, Sarutobi took a moment to ponder how he could still see yellow in the darkness.

* * *

A/N: DOUBLE CLIFFHANGER! I'm evily awesome!

Please Review, and I'll see you in 8!


	8. Battle Joined

A/N: Alright, this has been a long time coming. I actually began working on this chapter since the day after I finished the last chapter. It's been hovering arounf my computer 3/4 finished for three weeks now, and I just now got the impetus to finish it up. I figured I'd give you all a christmas present.

My thanks go out to my friend and beta reader, Elemental Balance. He helped me with a few scenes I was having problems with, and has over all been very helpful with this story. I encourage you to go check out his own work, spesifically Forsaken.

This chapter is almost 100,000 words, without the Authors Note. As that's longer then some stories, I think the delay should be acceptable.

* * *

"Hee-Hee!" Naruto giggled, a dazed look on his face. "Hey, Old man! Gimme another miso ramen, with extra kitty whiskers!" Old Man Ichiraku nodded, and used his giant monkey tail to grab a nearby cat. Naruto turned away to watch Ayame, who was serving people with white paws as customers admired her red fur and nice whiskers. "She is such a fox!" Naruto mumbled. 

_"He's going into shock!" A voice screamed. "Orihime, keep it up. You're all that's keeping him with us! The poison is overcoming his body!"_

Naruto frowned. He'd just heard a weird voice, but more importantly, his ramen wasn't there yet! The short, blonde ninja frowned. It wasn't like the chef to keep him waiting like this. Maybe the cat was giving him more trouble then usual. No sooner had Naruto gotten up to help then the ramen appeared in front of him.

_"Dog!" A new voice screamed. "Keep it up, Hime! I don't know how well this works, but it'll work better if you keep helping!" Another vocie, screaming "I REJECT!" joined in with the cries of "Dog!"_

'Hmmm...' Naruto thought. 'That sounds bad!' He looked down at the ramen, still steaming blissfully. 'I'll just have some ramen, then I'll try to figure it out.'

Naruto scooped up a noodle with a chopstick and twirled it around gracefully, coiling it around the stick. Slowly, the eating insturment carried it's cargo towards Naruto's eagerly awaiting mouth. But before it could reach it's goal, it just... stopped. Naruto tried, but his arm just wasn't moving!

There was a growl, and Naruto looked down in surprise. There was a big black fox biting down on his jacket, keeping his arm from moving! "I'll be damned if I let you die after all I've done to keep you here!" It growled around it's mouthful of sleeve. With a quick tackle, the fox smashed into Naruto's hand, knocking the bowl of ramen to the floor. Naruto felt tears well up in his eyes as he watched broth drain to the floor. The big fox had spilled his ramen!

_"I think he's coming out of it." A gruff voice spoke. "Yes, he is! See the green fluid coming out of his wound? That's the poison!"  
_

_"Oh my god..." another hushed voice mumbled. "There's so much of it... How could he have survived that?!"  
_

_"Right now, it doesn't matter." The first voice spoke up again. "Chad, pick him up. We'll get him into a bed when we get to the Shiba's."

* * *

_

In Seireitei, Soifon suddenly clutched at her stomach as a foreign feeling rushed into her. It took a moment for her to recognize in, as it had been centuries since she was in a gigai, thus it had been centuries since she was susceptable to it: she felt sick. Soifon felt nautious, like she was going to empty her stomach at any moment.

The door slid open, and Soifon hastily removed her hands. After all, it wouldn't due for her to show any more weakness. But a look at her visitor had her put them back hastily. "You too?" she grunted out. Matsumoto's ashen face nodded once, and immediatly turned a shade of green. As Matsumoto rushed to the bathroom, Soifon thought as clearly as she could with nausea running though her. Both her and Matsumoto had gotten sick at the same time, and Shinigami didn't get sick. And that was... interesting.

* * *

As the captain of the Second had always taken a 'hands off' approach in running the division, the vice captain had always been well versed in filling out paperwork. There had only been one glaring exception in the history of the division, and he was currently screaming at the holder of his former job.

"Listen, you fucking moron!" Omaeda Marechiyo screamed. "You have absolutely no right to that seat! I've been a vice-captain, with distinction, for over thirty years! You graduated from the academy a few months ago! I should be siiting that seat, giving you orders! In fact, I-"

The shinigami suddenly found his mouth being forcibly shut. But the black robed figure in the chair hadn't moved at all! Marechiyo paled further as the grainy material wrapped around his wrists and legs. For the first time, the arrogent Omaeda had the idea that screaming at Sabaku no Gaara was not exactly the most intelligent thing he could have done.

Slowly, the bonds holding Marechiyo expanded. The crawled along his skin until only his head was free of the large, sandy ball. Slowly, the brown orb levitated, drawing its cargo closer to the scarlet-haired shinigami. Only when the two were inches apart did Gaara look up from his papers, causing the Omaeda to recoil as much as he could within the sandy confines.

Calmly, Gaara stated, "In my capacity of pro-tem vice captain, I have filled out a form transfering you to the eleventh division. You are dead weight that the second simply can't carry anymore. In the eleventh, you might be hardened enough to be of some use to Soul Society in general."

Marechiyo blanched, turning paler then most thought possible. The eleventh would eat him alive, even if Zaraki didn't kill him the moment he stepped in! "But to be transfered, I'd have to sign the form! And there's no way in hell I'll do that!"

Gaara narrowed his eyes a fraction, and the sandy coccon tightened around the obese shinigami. "Let me rephrase," Gaara said, still in that chilling monotone. "The second cannot afford to carry dead weight at this time. Either you sign this form and become useful, or I shall... dispose of this dead weight myself."

Omaeda looked into Gaara's eyes and blanched once more. He knew, without a doubt, from the barely leashed madness, that Gaara wouldn't hesitate to carry out on his threat. And with this odd, sand-based Zanpakuto, he was more then capable. The fat shinigami couldn't sign the paper fast enough.

* * *

'There! Light! Wait a second, it's dark again. Here's the light, wait, dark, light, dark, light, dark… what's going on?' The sound of someone clearing their throat made Naruto stop blinking rapidly and spin his heard to the left, his eyes fixing on the only other conscious creature in the room.

The sight of a large black cat made him narrow his eyes. "Good to see you too, princess." He grunted out sarcastically. The cat shook her head almost pityingly, and jumped to Naruto's other side. There was a yell of "Wake up!" from the cat, and two previously unnoticed people jumped p with a scream.

"What?" Yoruichi asked innocently. "You told me to wake you up when he got up."

Tatsuki and Orihime glared at Yoruichi with menacing and cute glares respectively. "That's not," Tatsuki began as she cracked her knuckles. "What I meant!" Before Tatsuki could do anything more then threaten, Naruto coughed from his bedside. There was a 'squee!' sound from beside Tatsuki, and Orihime launched herself forward.

"Uzumaki-kun!" she squealed. "You're awake! We were all so worried!" As she kept rambling about how worried she had been and how he had to promise to never be stabbed with a poisoned sword again, she was hugging him tighter and tighted. Slowly, Naruto began turning blue. Frantically, he tapped on her arm, trying to get free.

The spiky-haired girl on the side looked on at the highly amusing scene, a few emotions warring inside of her. There was the urge to emulate Orihime, which she had barely managed to squash, followed by the urges to beat the crap out of Uzumaki and to save him from his predicament respectively. As Naruto's tapping got weaker and weaker, Tatsuki finally took pity on him and hauled her busty friend off of him. "Now, Hime, you can't kill him. I've already called that." She said in a matter-of-fact tone, taking pleasure as Naruto turned white as a sheet.

Of course, being as loud as they were, they were bound to attract some attention. Luckily, the attention was far from hostile as a strange woman entered. Naruto grinned as he saw her, and actually took in his surroundings for the first time. 'Ah… the Shiba place.' He thought, and nodded at the new arrival. "Kuukaku! Good to see you!"

The fireworks expert grinned as she surveyed the now conscious shinigami. "Uzumaki! You're still kicking! I almost thought you were done for! Guess I should know better then that." Yoruichi's eyes grew as wide as a cat's could as she took in the odd conversation.

"You two… know each other?" she stammered out.

Kuukaku's smile widened more. "Know each other? Of course we do! Of course, it was my sheer awesomeness that introduced Uzumaki here, as well as some of his pansy friends, to the wonders of bar hopping!" Her eyes took on the look of someone looking far back into the past. "You held your booze real well for your first time. Your friends on the other hand…"

Naruto snorted. "Yeah… good times."

_Reclining back into his lover, Naruto raised his glass. "To bestest buddies!" he screamed. His pillows moved as Matsumoto raised her own beverage, and Sasuke and Renji even stopped their chorus of old Christmas carols to join in. "Hey! Barkeep!" Naruto screamed. "More booze!"  
__  
The barteneder shook his head. "Don't you think you've had enough?"_

_Kuukaku glanced over her own beer at the man, who blanched. "Listed, punk!" She slurred out. "We don't think we've had enough, and…stuff. Now, gimme."_

The two sighed as they finished their reminiscing. "Ah." Naruto finished. "I'll always wonder how we ended up on that boat."

"Won't we all." Kuukaku looked around, becoming conscious of the looks being directed at the two for the first time. "What? You'd do the same thing if you were me!" Shrugging of the looks that now clearly said that they doubted that, Kuukaku looked down again at Naruto. "Oy, Uzumaki. Ayame's making ramen downstairs."

A moment later, Tatsuki asked the question they were all thinking. "Where'd he go?"

Within seconds, Naruto had downed three bowls as the amused waitress giggled at her favorite customer. "Good to see you too, neechan!" he said with a smile as he dug into bowl number four. The girls stared (except for Kuukaku, who'd seen it before.) as Naruto polished it off within seconds. Shortly, Naruto's meal was done, and he stood up quickly. He staggered forward a step before righting himself, but the others had caught it.

"You should be in bed!" Tatsuki hissed, her concern briefly overcoming her anger. "You were just knocked out by some poison, and it could still be in your system." She stopped as Naruto shook his head.

"Nah, Suki-chan. Nice to know you care though. Whatever Gin did to me is out of my system, and I heal better on my feet anyway. Though, I do seem to be missing something." Kuukaku reached into a corner and tossed a wrapped bundle to him. Naruto nodded his thanks, and cut the knot holding it together. Two items fell out: a Vice Captain's badge and a sealed Zanpakuto. After quickly affixing the items to his ripped haori, he turned back to the group. "So, where're the guys?"

Orihime chirped in the answer. "They're downstairs, working on their energy control. We've already finished the exercise, but Kurosaki-kun has been having problems with it. Sado-kun and Uryu-kun have been trying to help him, but it's not working out too well."

"Reishi control? Why would they need that now unless…." A look of dawning comprehension blossomed on Naruto's face, and he leveled an accusing finger at his one-armed friend. "Uh-uh! No way is Uzumaki Naruto going to be a firework! No friggen way!"

The aforementioned firework expert shook her head again. "You don't have a choice if you want to save your friend. All the entrances and exits have been sealed up in wartime manners, and the other three gatekeepers are now always on duty. The aerial and subterranean shields have been raised, so you have no way to get through unless it involves brute force."

"Wait a second. We could just overcharge the gateway, and short-circuit the generator. There's no need to make us into fireworks!"

"Yeah, you could do that. But there's a small flaw in your plan: that would take too long. It would take at least a week to find the outside power source, and another one to overcharge it using the energy from all of you and your friends. You only have twelve days."

Naruto jolted in shock. "Twelve days?! But… the usual execution waiting period is at least another month!"

Kuukaku nodded. "Yes, it is. But someone has convinced the central 46 to decrease the waiting time, as 'the heinous charges against Kuchiki mean that she must be executed before she can contact her otherworldly allies.'"

Naruto groaned. "I hate that cannon!" With another shake of his head, he began walking toward the basement with all the girls in tow. Once there, he stopped dead, causing Orihime to walk directly into him. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Ichigo was grunting and straining like a constipated man, forcing energy into a black ball. Next to him, Chad sat silently. On the other hand, Uryu was doing no such thing, and was loudly sharing his advice with Ichigo. "No, you must push it! No, more! No, push it to the left!" He shut up as Ichigo hit him with the 'Kurosaki Death Glare'.

"You're not helping!" he grunted out through gritted teeth. Next to him, a man that Naruto recognized as the youngest of the Shiba's was attempting offer similarly useless advice. Naruto groaned, and walked over.

He bent down, ignoring the minor pain coming from his shoulder wound, and grabbed another of the black balls. "You're forcing it." He said, capturing their attention. "For most people, their will is more then sufficient to bend their Reishi to their desires. But for people with large amounts of it, like us, that just won't work. It's not that we have weak minds. It's just that no matter how strong our minds are, it's like trying to move the ocean with a child's sand bucket."

Uryu and Ganju both began to puff up with indignation, offended that this… person thought that he could teach control better then they could! Actually, they just appeared offended by his very existence. Before they could act on their violent impulses, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind them. Ganju glanced back, and grabbed Uryu before he could draw his bow. "Umm… I don't think Neechan would like it if we did that." From behind them, Kuukaku flexed her hand, a pulse of energy wavering into existence around it.

"Listen, strawberry. Just let the energy flow, with a tiny touch on it. The amount that comes will be what you need, as will the shape. After a while, you won't even need to think about drawing it anymore. All you'll need to do is think 'ball', and the shield will appear."

Ichigo growled, both at the lecture and at the nickname. "Oh yeah?! I'd like to see you do this then!" Naruto smirked, and tossed the ball he'd picked up into the air. When he caught it again, the shell immediately warped into being. Then the shell thinned out, leaving a bare touch of energy in a circular shape. Then it expanded, somehow being turned orange instead of the regular blue.

"Would you like to see it dance?" he asked sarcastically. Then, all of them crashed into the ground as Orihime squealed "Yes Please!"

"Impressive, I'll admit." Yoruichi said. "Who taught you, boy?"

Suddenly, Naruto the Teacher was gone, replaced by the angry Naruto once again. "Well, princess, lot's of people helped my training. Of course, Captain Soifon had a bit to do with it. She's helped tutor my control since I entered the division, like she does almost everyone. Maybe you've heard of her?"

"Ah, Soifon…" the cat mused. "She was such a good girl and student. I knew she'd make captain eventually." Sadly for the cat, this only enraged the Vice Captain more.

"Was this before or after you knew she'd try to kill herself?!" he practically spat. "It's common knowledge that she was your most devout follower and thought she was your friend before you left! It's also common knowledge that she's been stopped from committing ritual suicide three times in the month after you left to 'atone for her failure'!"

"Listen, boy!" the cat retaliated with a growl of her own. "There is more then one person in my life, and I had more things to worry about! Soifon was fine eventually, but my friend-"

"Yes, Urahara-san would have been executed if you hadn't broken him out! But you could have stayed for two minutes to explain what was happening to your most devout follower, princess!" he hissed, his voice filled with venom.

From off to the side, Ichigo scratched his head. "Princess? But…."

Chad finished the sentence. "She's a cat."

Naruto snorted again. "Yeah, and all cats talk. Listen, this little kitty here has a lot to be punished for, and I'm going to be doing my damn best to take care of it!"

Yoruichi chuckled. "I'd like to see you try, brat. But what did you have in mind?"

Naruto gave a chuckle of his own. "Well, to start with, I think I'd rather continue this conversation face-to-face." He gripped his Zanpakuto. "Emerge from the shadows, Shinobi!" His blade morphed once again into its shuriken form. He hooked the weapon to his haori, before clapping his hands together into a familiar seal.

Tatsuki's eyes widened as she watched the hand sign. 'The Tiger! But, is he going to try and burn her or…' Naruto's chakra pooled around his hand, and he reached over and tapped the amused cat on the head.

"Kai, bitch."

A cloud of smoke appeared around the cat, and when it cleared, all the males in the room save Naruto fell backwards with columns of blood sprouting from their noses. Where the cat used to stand, a dusky skinned woman crouched, sporting her birthday suit. Her eyes were the same as the cat's, but her hair was a dark purple instead of black.

The newly nude Yoruichi stood, not caring as her assets were brazenly displayed to the many sets of wide eyes before her. Before her, the insufferable blonde shinigami grinned lazily, clearly proud of what he'd done. And it was what he had done that had set Yoruichi's mind off, making it go a mile a minute. He had kicked her forcefully out of cat form! He showed no reaction her nudity, other then a cursory inspection! She shook her head slowly, and asked "What are you?"

Naruto's grin grew wider, if that was at all possible. "I'm a shinigami. I'm a ninja. But most of all..." he said as leaned forward, getting as close as eye-to-eye with the former catgirl as he could. "I am fucking good."

The group stared at the blonde shinigami as he calmly removed his outer robe and tossed it to the nude woman. "Now that we've established who you really are, I think we need to get down to business," he said, "You and I can settle accounts later…and believe me, we WILL settle."

Yoruichi frowned, before shrugging the garment on. "Itchy," she muttered, "I'd forgotten how uncomfortable clothes are…"

Kuukaku snorted. "That figures," she laughed, "You spend so much time in that kitty disguise that it's a wonder you even know what breasts are, princess!"

"Of course I know what breasts are!" Yoruichi said, somehow managing to sound offended at the very question. "See?" She opened her new robe a bit, just enough to expose said anatomy. Luckily, Kuukaku had expected that and moved fast enough to shield the others. Once the cat girl had been forced to keep her robe shut, the conversation resumed.

There was a movement from off to the side, and everyone's head spun to see that Orihime had tentatively raised her hand. "Ano, Uzumaki-kun," she began, "How…"

"Did I do that?" he finished for her, "Its one of the techniques I can use thanks to my ability to use chakra."

"Chakra?" Yoruichi spoke up, robe still thankfully closed. "Isn't that the energy of 'living' people?"

"Yeah it is," Naruto replied, "Thanks to Shinobi here," he hefted the large shuriken over his shoulder, "I can use it like I could when I was alive. Better actually, my reiatsu training carries over to it…if I'd had the kind of control back then as I do now, I probably wouldn't have died."

"What about that sign you did?" Tatsuki asked, "How do you know the Tiger sign?"

Naruto stared at her. "Wha…you mean the Tora seal?" he asked, "Its one of the twelve seals ninja and the like use to mold chakra into different jutsu. The seals include tora, inu, saru, nezumi, uma, o-ushi, buta, hebi, tori, usagi, ryu, and hitsuji." He proceeded to form the various seals as he named them. "With these seals I can perform various jutsu, or in the princess's case her, cancel illusions."

Tasuki frowned. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her competitive side was awakened. "Well, can you do this?" she challenged, and allowed her reiatsu to flow while she formed her own tora seal.

"AH! Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime shouted, trying to stop her.

The girl ignored her friend's cry, and unleashed a large fireball. Naruto's eyes widened, before his hands flew through a quick seal sequence.

"**_SUITON: TEPPO DAMA!_** (Water Style: Gunshot)" he cried, spitting forth a large ball of water and extinguishing the flames of Tatsuki's attack.

"Huh?" the girl gasped, as Naruto quickly formed the nezumi seal.

"**_NINPOU: KANASHIBARI NO JUTSU!_** (Ninja Art: Paralysis Technique)"

Tatsuki gasped as she felt all of her muscles suddenly seize up, and her eyes widened as Naruto suddenly appeared before her, his strange weapon spinning in his hand, ready to strike.

"What…the…fuck…were you thinking?!" he growled out, his hard blue eyes seeming to pierce into her core, "That technique…where I come from, it's called Goukakyu no Jutsu, and it has no stun or capture settings. It's made to destroy!"

"Hey! Back off!" Ichigo shouted, swinging his own zanpakuto forward…only to stop and gasp in pain as another Naruto appeared behind him, grabbing and wrenching his wrist painfully. With a clatter, Zangetsu, fell to the floor.

"This jutsu's called Kage Bunshin," the other Naruto spoke up, "I'm just a solid copy of him," he motioned to the one holding the blade near Tatsuki's neck, "But I can do just as much damage. So hold still, Berry Boy. The real me isn't going to hurt her."

The 'real' Naruto was continuing to speak in a low tone. "Your…power…is unique, Tatsuki-_san_," he muttered. Somehow, even angry, he managed to emphasize the title he had given her, stressing that he wasn't just the happy, carefree guy they all knew. "You seem to convert reishi into chakra, and then use it to emulate some jutsu… It's the most similar power to mine I've ever seen. You may well be one of the most powerful in our little group here…and potentially the most dangerous."

He stepped back, allowing the kanashibari to drop, and letting the girl fall to her knees. "Chakra and reishi don't mix well," he explained, "To most people in Soul Society, it's like a poison. I've trained for YEARS to properly control and, or mix the two. If you just go around spitting fireballs you not only could kill someone, you could very well kill yourself in the process. And THAT is a bad thing." He dispelled his clone, allowing Ichigo to breathe easily. "Get it through your heads, my little buddies. People are going to get HURT here. The most gorgeous and deadly Kuukaku just told me that the execution's been moved up, and that Seireitei is under War-Time alert. That means that the captains and the vice captains are all going to be out in force."

"So what?" Ichigo replied, "We'll handle it."

"Like you handled Byakyua?" the blonde snorted, "You weren't even close to being able to deal with him, and he was treating you like a baby."

"What are you talking about?" Uryuu spoke up, "I sensed that shinigami's reiatsu, and while it was strong, I know we've surpassed it."

"HAH!" Naruto barked, holding his side as he laughed, "Ishida-san…you have no IDEA how stupid you just sounded."

Yoruichi was also shaking her head. "I'm afraid that blondeie here is right, Ishida-kun," she spoke up, "Byakuya was only at one fifth of his normal power when you met him."

Ichigo's eyes bugged out. "Wha…one…f-fifth!?!" he whispered, as the rest of his group looked ill.

"It's a rule, Strawberry," Naruto spoke up, "Any shinigami of captain or vice-captain rank is put under a limiter when they go to your world. Our powers are cut to 1/5th their standard level…it's so that events like Suki-chan, Orihime-chan, and Chad don't happen at all.

The three mentioned people looked at him, awaiting an explanation.

"Reishi warps your reality," Yoruichi explained for him, "The knucklehead over here is probably responsible for your powers, Tatsuki-san. Kurosaki-san is the reason for Sado-san and Inoue-san."

"Rukia-san probably would have altered you as well, if she hadn't lost her powers to Strawberry here," Naruto spoke again, "By the way," he turned once again to Yoruichi, his eyes narrowing. "Why DIDN'T her powers return? A transfer like that would have drained them, sure…but her reserves should have filled up on their own like normal."

"You'll have to ask Kisuke," the dusky-skinned woman replied, "In the mean time, we still have work to do."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you ain't getting off that easy, kitty-cat," he thought.

* * *

It took Ichigo another day to finally master the shield technique, but it came thanks to Naruto's advice. The blonde took the time to explain the nature of chakra to Tatsuki, and show her several tricks that would aide her control.

To say that he was pissed that she mastered tree-walking so easily would've been an understatement. "Why is it girls can do that so much easier than guys…" he could be heard grumbling as his 'charge' ran up and down walls laughing.

A day of rest followed the training, and Naruto took the time to educate them on what they could expect.

"Listen up," he spoke, as the group sat down to eat some of the Hiko brother's cooking, as well as a jumbo ramen from Ichiraku's for him, "When we get in there, we are going to have to run like hell. The captains, vice-captains, and several others will be on us quickly, and as strong as you've become, none of you are ready to deal with some of them."

"How do you know?" Ichigo asked, "Tell us about them, and we can judge the best match-ups…"

"The only match-up that works is for you to RUN if you come across one, Strawberry!" Naruto growled. "The vice-captains you MIGHT be able to match are the one's who you won't find on the battle field in the first place. The combat types…at best, you'd hope for a draw where you can both walk away breathing."

"Tell us about them, Uzumaki-kun," Orihime spoke up, surprising the group. "If we know who to avoid, we can move a little easier, right?"

Naruto spared a glance with Kuukaku. "She's right, Blondie," the explosives expert replied, "Better they know who and what they're up against."

Naruto sighed. "Okay," he replied, "Let's go with a visual presentation." He motioned the group to follow.

"Alright, people." He said once he had reached his destination. The others barely had enough time to note that they were in a similar training room to on they had just left before Naruto moved his fingers into a cross-like seal. "Let's go! _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Henge!**_" he yelled, and twenty five clones appeared. The moment the chakra-constructs hit the ground, there was another plume of smoke, disguising the changes that took place.

"Okay, here we go." Naruto said as he walked over to an empty space. "Here is me, Vice Captain of the Second Divison. Luckily, I'm on your side. But sadly, I have no idea who's in my spot now that I'm gone. Assume that whoever has the badge that's like mine on will go and slaughter anyone who looks wrong at him. Or, failing that, if the guy happens to look like this-" There was another plume of smoke, and the face of Omaeda Marechiyo looked upon them. "Don't worry, you'll just be able to destroy him." The henge was canceled, and Naruto appeared next to an old duo.

"This is General Yamamoto, and his Vice-Captain Sarutobi. If you encounter either of them, just run like hell. They are without a doubt the most powerful combo in Seireitei. Sarutobi might take pity on you and capture you, but don't count on it."

Naruto walked over to the next clone, this one standing alone. "This is my captain, Captain Soifon. Make no mistake about it, she _will _kill you without a hesitation. But more importantly, if you happen to meet her, get on all fours and surrender. Because if you happen to touch a hair on her head, and live to tell about it, I'll finish the job."

The explanations went on and on, with Naruto explaining various tidbits about any of the captain levels that crossed his mind. Said tidbits included "This is Yachiru. Don't even try to hurt her. Sure, she doesn't look strong, but she lives on the back of this guy, and he won't take pity on you." And "This is Renji, and this is Rangiku. Take my advice and don't touch either of em. You remember what I said about Soifon? Yeah, these two aren't nearly as powerful as she is, but that just means that I'll kick the shit out of you harder then before."

Finally, they were ready. Kuukaku had prepared the cannon, and Naruto had briefed all of them. Yoruichi, once again in her cat form, had gathered all of them into a group. Even Ganju, who had suddenly decided to accompany them, was there, though he looked a bit pale. That change in palor could be chalked up to a little speech his sister had given him before hand.

"_Yeah, Ganju? I actually happen to be kinda fond of Uzumaki. So, if a blade somehow manages to find a way into his back while he's in the cannon, you'd better hope I never find you. Remember what happened to that one guy who groped me? Yeah, that'll look mild compared to what I'll do to you_."

With a blast, the flower cannon was shot, and the eight companions were blasted straight towards the glistening dome of Seireitei. Sadly, that was when everything stopped going according to plan. With a blast of light, everyone shot off in different directions, with some of them somehow managing to hold onto some of the others.

* * *

Naruto shook his head as he stood. He noticed three others getting to their feet, groggily looking around like he was. 'Alright. We've got Ganju, Ichigo, and Orihime. It could be worse." There was a heavy tread of a boot behind him, and Naruto spun, his sword ready for battle. 'And now they're worse."

With a growl, Ikkaku charged in, his unreleased sword meeting Naruto's hastily raised one. "Well, you certainly look like Uzumaki." The bald warrior growled. "Let's see if you fight like him!"

* * *

Ganju staggered to his feet and had regained his own thoughts just enough to know that he should duck. A bit of his bandana fell, neatly sliced off of his head, but he paid it no mind as he drew his own short sword. Yumachika sighed dramatically. "Ah, it always seems that the ugly ones must fight when the beautiful come to cleanse them. It's such a pity…"

* * *

Ichigo looked at his two companions, already engaged in battle. He cracked his neck as he looked at the last remaining shinigami, who was already standing in a combat stance. "Well, you weren't on the list! Time to come get your ass kicked!"

With a cold smile on his lips, Hyuuga Neji turned his palm upwards, and crooked his fingers in a 'come' gesture. "Ah, my uncultured friend, you obviously have no clue who you're dealing with."

* * *

Thrust. Parry. Riposte. The dance of battle surrounded the two shinigami, washing over them like waves over the sandy beach. But while Ikkaku usually allowed himself to get lost in the sounds of steel-on-steel, something seemed to hold him back this time.

Maybe it was the temperature, for it felt far too warm for this activity. Maybe it was the wind, which was picking up quickly today. Or maybe, just maybe, it was what Ikkaku knew was the truth: something was very wrong with this battle.

After all, battle was like a first language. It was easy to learn, but it took years to master. Even after you mastered it, your blows gained a distinctive quality all their own that separated them from all others. Madarame Ikkaku had fought thousands of opponents before and, from the lowest hollow to the strongest captain, could remember exactly how they fought. He could tell if someone's style had recently gained strength, or if it had weakened, and could, most of all, tell when it was imitated.

When someone imitated another's style, their moves were shaky and awkward. Even if the imitation had been going on for years, there was still the occasional moment of hesitation, the cut that was too shallow, the telltale sign that something was wrong. However, the would-be faux Uzumaki was showing none of that.

Every cut was crisp and precise. Every move was was perfect and skilled. That giant shuriken was being twirled around in that signature way. Even that pure smile, the sign of someone awash with the thrill of the fight, was in place, gleaming in the middle of the many small cuts that Ikkaku had managed to make.

Ikkaku leapt back, creating separating for the first time since the battle had begun. Much like his opponent, Ikkaku was bleeding heavily from his face and smiling while doing it. Only his eyes gave away his troubled mind. They were darting around, trying to find any solution other then the obvious. His mind was moving enough to keep up with his pupils, but it was processing only doubts.

After all, he had only fought Uzumaki once, at the end of the Shinigami battle royal. Even then, it had only been for a frenzied few moments. Even if he had gotten an accurate read from that fight, maybe his observation skills had shrunk as time moved on. But as he panted, mind moving miles in moments, he came to the only reasonably rational conclusion: before him stood the true Vice-Captain of the second division, Uzumaki Naruto.

At the thought, Ikkaku's already dry mouth lost any and all moisture. The Vice-Captain stood before him! That meant... there was something wrong in Soul Society. But for a brief second, as the realization hit him, he took his mind off the fight. And against someone like Vice-Captain Uzumaki, that moment was more then enough.

There was a poofing sound behind him, and the strong hands of Uzumaki's shadow clones grabbed him. Knowing there was no way out, Ikkaku watched as Uzumaki took a new stance, shuriken held out before him. There was a flash, and all four blades had swung around, coming together in one giant point leveled directly at the third seat.

There was a roar, a feral, bestial roar, and excess reishi began to leak out of Uzumaki. But instead of dissipating as usual, the reishi took a shape. Ikkaku's eyes widened further as the outline of a nine-tailed kitsune formed behind Naruto. There was another roar, and all nine of the tails stabbed forward, meeting in one place in Ikkaku's torso. Naruto's blade darted forward, the tails and blades drawing an eerie parallel.

Moments later, Ikkaku was on the ground, bleeding from his stomach. Naruto stood over him, sword sealed once again. "Listen, Madarame." Naruto said. "I know you'll survive this, and you know I didn't kill you on purpose. I doubt you believe me, but... well, I won't be able to convice you otherwise. Just... just, stay down, alright?'

There was a boom from a distance away, and Naruto looked up towards the sky. Sure enough, a giant firework had gone off. Shaking his head, he rushed towards it, grumbling about subtlety.

As he weakly spread some of his stypic on his gaping wound, Ikkaku chuckled. '_Hypocrite..._'.

* * *

Ichigo was quickly coming to the conclusion that Hyuuga Neji was very, very annoying. Sadly, it appeared that the man with the girly hair had discovered that as well, and had one hell of a superior smirk on his face. 'Shit!' Ichigo cursed as he dodged to the left, avoiding one thrust by a dagger with a wavy blade. With a near-impossible dodge that left him bent in an arch, another deadly thrust from a second dagger was avoided.

From his arched-over position, Ichigo kicked out. The Hyuuga dodged quickly, but Ichigo hadn't been aiming at him in the first place. Using the kick's momentum, Ichigo turned the attack into a modified handspring, landing back in a ready position.

Before he could go for Zangetsu (still securely latched onto his back), Neji was up close, daggers poised to strike. A punch to the Hyuuga's gut blew the attacker back, but only for a moment. The next few minutes were full of dodging, diving, and fruitless attempts to retrieve his Zanpakuto. 'Dammit!' Ichigo thought. 'He's staying too close for me to use Zangetsu, let alone get him out! Looks like hand to hand is the only way.' He skidded to a stop, posed in a rusty, if serviceable, Karate stance.

Surprisingly, Neji halted his assault in exchange. "You?" he snorted. Ichigo grumbled under his breath at that. Even his snorts sounded aristocratic. "You want to attempt to challenge the might and perfection of jyuuken with just that pathetic stance?" Calmly, the long-haired noble stuck his daggers in a sash he was using as a belt. "Then come. Come to your doom, ryoka."

Ichigo came, and quickly. Just as quickly, it became apparent that his rusty Karate was no match for the jyuuken, or whatever this style was called. It was only to be expected, after all. The formal kicks and hits of Karate had no place on the streets he hung out on, where the only rule of the fight was to win. 'Wait… there're no rules here, either!'

The substitute shinigami jumped back, hands and foot raised in an odd stance he'd seen in an American Movie once. "Time for my super-secret special attack!" he yelled, hoping his foe would take the bait. Sure enough, Neji had stopped, and was watching him, on his guard for whatever the strange stance brought. "Prepare, for my ultimate technique! The Stance of the Crane!"

Neji snorted once again. This stance was pathetic! It had holes everywhere, and couldn't be used for any practical attacking purposes! At least, that's what he thought until he saw Ichigo's victorious smirk, and one of Ichigo's hands darted for the blade on his back. Neji realized the deception too late, and was caught in mid-sprint, daggers half-drawn, by Zangetsu through the gut.

The Hyuuga slid off the blade with a sickening thud, but his hands were already coming to his stomach. A glow of green energy, a healing Kido he had learned before he had been taken by the eleventh, was pouting out, mending the wounds he had taken. Sadly, it took almost all of his energy. He did, however, have enough time to grunt out "You… you cheated!"

This time, it was Ichigo who snorted, shot a pitying look at the unconcious shinigami, and ran towards the site of a newly exploded firework, thinking 'This guy wouldn't last five minutes in the real world. WAY too honorable!'

* * *

The firework didn't just catch the attention of Ganju's allies when he set it off. It also caught the attention of one specific shinigami who had nothing better to do at the moment then take another shot at a tree-stump. After a moment of puzzling over the meaning of the new light in the sky, she shrugged and went back to practice. After all, things had been falling from the sky all day, so this new thing shouldn't be any different.

On the outside, she was the picture of strength and serenity as she launched another attack on the tree. But on the inside, TenTen was fuming. 'Ditch me, huh?! You'd just get in the way, huh?!' The targets of her ire were made very, very apparent by looking at her target, which was adorned with hastily-made drawings of two guys with bowl cuts and one with long girly hair.

Somehow, even inside of her mind, TenTen managed to do a passable imitation of Neji. 'Oh, TenTen! You just stay here! I am not completely confident in the abilities of my newly crafted taijutsu style, so you should be here. If you came with me, you would be at best a liability and at worst, dead.' Somehow, in the midst of her feminine rage, she had missed the genuine worry and concern in her friends voice, and had taken it as yet another stab by men to hold strong women like herself back!

Sadly, her imitation skills were not done exercising themselves yet, and she dropped her Zanpakuto to prance around in a mockery of her other two teammates. In a high voice, she said "Gai-Sensei! There has been a massive breach in the sky! Surely, if we run laps around Seireitei, we will find some unyouthful enemies to fight!" Her voice lowered, but still maintained that tone as she answered herself. "Yes, my youthful student! The flames of your initiative show no bounds!"

There was a slow clapping behind her, and TenTen spun around, hands instinctively going for kunai that weren't there. Cursing her stupidity, she dove for her Zanpakuto, only for it to disappear before her very eyes. "Now, now, none of that." The new man said, and TenTen suddenly found herself seated in a wooden seat that hadn't been there before.

TenTen struggled, but couldn't get free due to ropes- no, vines, suddenly appearing and binding her wrists to the seat with surprising strength. "No, no!" The man said, his voice sounding both angry and amused. "I have no wish to harm you, none at all. I simply require your services."

The female of Team Gai snorted. "Yeah, right. Right now, I'm just a rookie shinigami who doesn't even know the name of her Zanpakuto. I'd be no use to you in your attack on Soul Society, and wouldn't help you even if I could! So stop toying with me and just finish me already!"

The man shook his head. "Attacking Soul Society? Wherever did you get that idea?! No, we wish to save it, and we _will_. But we have been asleep for far too long to be of any immediate use. And that is why we require your services."

Despite herself, TenTen was intrigued. "Who are you?"

"We?" The man said, a smile in his voice. "We are the fourteenth division."

* * *

As Tenten was forcefully stopped from her ranting and raving, another girl across Seireitei was starting. Only, instead of screaming mentally about three people, she was ranting verbally about one. "That STUPID, INCONSIDERATE, JERK!" Tatsuki screamed as she kicked the prone form of the giant shinigami. The man on the ground groaned, and Tatsuki turned even more of her ire on him. "OOHHH, look how the big bad Itachi is doing now!" she screamed, delivering another kick to the ribs.

From behind her, Uryu shook his head. 'This has been coming to a boil for a while, and this poor, poor man just the outlet.' He thought. When the group had been separated, Tatsuki and Uryu had somehow managed to stay together. They hadn't done more then get up and brush themselves off when the shinigami, who was currently on the floor, had appeared. He had gloated, at length, about how he was an Itachi, a weapons master.

Apparently, Tatsuki had taken exception to that, and had nailed a kick right between the giant's legs. Even giants had weak spots there, and the self-proclaimed Itachi had dropped like a stone. That lead to their current predicament, with Tatsuki rambling and raving while kicking the man repeatedly. "Um… Arisawa?" Uryu finally spoke up. "We should probably get moving. We won't do anything but draw attention to ourselves if we stay here. In addition, his cries are sure to draw attention."

Tatsuki grunted, and gave the man one last kick. "Off to find that bastard, and give him a piece of my mind!" she yelled, and turned away. As she began to march off, Uryu cast one last glance at the sobbing wreck on the floor. When the man had appeared, Uryu had just planned on blasting him with hundreds of arrows before removing his shinigami powers. As he sprinted after the tower of rage that was Tatsuki, he realized that that might have indeed been a kinder course of action.

* * *

"Guys!" Ganju yelled, waving happily. "You made it!" Naruto and Ichigo ran up from opposing directions, somehow arriving at the exact same time. Both paused for a moment, and their eyes looked over their party critically. Naruto was panting, but he only had superficial cuts that would fade away in a couple days. Ichigo had a few stab wounds, but he had already bandaged them inexpertly. Ganju was sweaty and tired, but otherwise untouched. Surprisingly, it was Orihime who was in the best shape. At the questioning looks she was getting, she shrugged.

"After Kurosaki-kun, Uzumaki-kun and Shiba-kun took the enemies, I didn't have much to do. So I just ran around a bit, and here I am!" Came her answer. Again in creepy unison, giant beads of sweat developed on the back of Naruto's and Ichigo's heads. Ganju shook his head, and the four ran off.

As they ran, Ichigo yelled over at his blonde companion, "So, how do we get to wherever they're keeping Rukia?"

Naruto yelled back "She's probably at Senzaikyu, the shrine of penitence. It's that giant white tower over there." He pointed, and sure enough, a large white tower was on the horizon. "As for how to get there… well, we run at it!"

"We run at it?! Is that all you got?!"

"If you have an option B, I'd love to hear it!"

No sooner had he said that then Ganju tripped and fell. That in and of itself wasn't that unusual. No, it was the fact that he had tripped _over _someone who had been crouched on all fours looking for something. "Oh, sorry." The shinigami said. "I dropped my container of super energy pills, and I just can't seem to find it! I'm sorry if I got in your way…." He trailed off as he looked at the four.

"Healing… that means, fourth division?" Ichigo asked, barely remembering what Naruto and Kuukaku had rambled on about before they had left the Shiba household. "They clean a lot, right?" At Naruto's nod, a devilish smirk crossed Ichigo's face and pulled the shinigami up by the front of his uniform. "I give to you, option B!"

Surprisingly, the shinigami only seemed to happy to help. Yamada Hanataro, as he identified himself, was apparently a big fan of Kuchiki Rukia and would do almost anything to help her. Including, apparently, escorting two ryoka, a disgraced noble, and what he thought was an imposter of a beloved vice-captain through the sewers. His only problem seemed to be his constant prodding of Naruto.

"So, do Vizard brush their teeth before they go to bed?" he asked. Upon receiving no answer again, he tried another question. "Does it hurt to shed your skin on a full moon? Do you guys have family barbeques? Do you have barbeques at all? How about birthday parties? Clowns? Anything?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, and continued repeating his new mantra in his head. 'We need him, don't kill him. We need him, don't kill him. We need him, don't kill him. Aw fuck, he asks one more thing, I'm taking his head off!' Luckily for Naruto's continued mental state and conscience, not to mention Hanataro's physical well-being, Orihime noticed Naruto's grinding teeth and stuck a hand over the shinigami's mouth.

Not long after, they reached the ladder that would lead them to the base of the shrine of penitence. And that's when things got complicated.

* * *

Nanao pushed her glasses back on her nose, and cleared her throat. "Abarai! If you don't get to the Vice-Captain's meeting, then they could easily take your rank from you. Don't be a fool!"

A harsh reply came from the mouth of the tattooed Vice-Captain. "Ise, I didn't want your help or your reminders. I'm here to stop the intruders, and that's all. You can run along and tell them that now. Now fuck off." One look at Renji by anyone who knew him would confirm that something was definitely wrong with him. The bags under his eyes spoke of one who hadn't slept in days, and he was gripping the hilt of his Zanpakuto hard enough to draw blood. Of course, that wasn't surprising. Since the news had come that one of his best friends had been killed by his childhood friend (and crush, though he'd never admit that), Renji had been a walking bundle of nerves, ready to lash out at anyone who looked at him the wrong way. And with these invaders here, he now had the perfect chance to fight.

As fate would have it, at that precise moment, the trap door infront of them opened. Out came a teen in a shinigami outfit with bright orange hair. Immediately sensing enemy, Renji roared in rage and charged. Ichigo got Zangetsu out in time, blocking the strike from Zabimaru. As the two stoop there, blades straining against each other, the rest of the group crawled out of the sewers. Renji didn't even notice them. In his sleep deprived and battle-clouded mind, he had locked onto Ichigo and wouldn't notice anything else while Ichigo stood.

Ichigo yelled back to his companions as he exchanged quick slices with the crazed vice-captain. "You guys try and go around me! I'll finish him and catch up!" As he spoke, a blast of white lightning shot at him, and he could only look at it like a deer in headlights.

A glowing orange shield cut off the blast, absorbing the Kido like it was an amoeba. Another blast was met by the shield again, as was a third. Nanao paused to put her glasses in postion again before she shot off another blast. Like the ones before it, it was intercepted by Orihime's large shield. "Hm." The Eighth Division Vice-Captain said. "This is interesting."

Orihime began sweating from the effort of keeping the shield up against the steady stream of Kido. Next to her, Naruto drew his arm back, preparing to launch Shinobi straight at the new attacker. But he was held back by Orihime's pained hiss of "No." When he looked at her questioningly, she shook her head slowly, struggling with the burden of communicating and holding the shield up at the same time.

Scenes flashed through the mind of the one every person thought was an orange haired bimbo. Ichigo holding her brother away from her while the shade of her relative attempted to consume her whole. Tatsuki, cackling madly, fighting off wave after wave of brainwashed people trying to attack her.

"No." Orihime growled, her voice firming and loosing its quaver. "This battle is mine!"

* * *

Yusatora Sado, Chad to some people, had been a witness to many strange scenes in his life. He had been called a gangster and a mobster. He had been attacked by an invisible monster. He had had a parakeet talk to him for days, for crying out loud! But nothing had ever prepared him for the sight he was now seeing. "Jan, Ken, Po!" The two odd men yelled.

"Darn it Gai-sensei! Best Nine out of Seventeen this time!"

"A truly honorable proposition, my faithful student! We shall begin!" And thus, the strange rock-paper-scissors contest continued. Chad continued to stand there, feeling oddly out of place, but knowing it would be rude of him to just leave the two here. Finally the younger of the two raised his hand.

"Yes! I win!" he yelled. The other man nodded and clapped proudly.

"Good job, Lee! By defeating me in a contest of wits and skill, you have proven that you truly are a genius of hard work! Now, to claim your prize, a battle with this very polite ryoka!"

Lee turned to the dumbstruck Chad. "Thank you for waiting! My name is Rock Lee, the Burning Azure Best of the Seventh Division! Now, let us commence our combat!"

Chad shrugged. Well, he'd fought stranger.

* * *

"What division are you guys?" A new shinigami sneered. Uryu and Tatsuki traded looks, and Uryu took a deep breath. They had been expecting someone to challenge their authority, and had concocted a cover story based on the information Uzumaki had given them and what the clones had shown. Tatsuki piped up, and answered with the division that had the captain that looked like most people wouldn't question.

"Eleventh." She said, matching the man's sneer.

The shinigami snorted. "Yeah? Well, what're members the combat junkie eleventh division doing running around in a battle situation without their Zanpakuto?' He reached for the edge of Tatsuki's robe, his intentions unclear. But, as they said on earth, when life gives you lemons…

Tatsuki grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. As he was about to get free, she stopped him with a quick kick to the back of his knee, making him crumple to the ground. "We happen to like fighting hand-to-hand!" she snarled, as if she was affronted that anyone might doubt them.

A cry went up from further down the path, and Uryu spun to see the cause. Sure enough, someone had spotted Tatsuki's assault, and had put up an alarm. The Quincy cursed as he realized that their disguise wouldn't hold up to the scrutiny that this would bring, and he looked over at Tatsuki. Their eyes met, and the same thought passed through both of their minds.

Uryu was the one to say it though. "Split up." He snapped. "We'll be harder to find by ourselves!" Tatsuki nodded, not even taking the time to snarl at him for giving her orders, and sprinted north. Uryu went the opposite direction, fervently hoping that he wouldn't come into contact with anymore trouble then he could handle.

How much trouble he could handle was a matter that was about to be put up for debate. Uryu skidded to a stop, bow already drawn, as he practically ran into one of the many people Uzumaki had placed on the 'must avoid' list.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri leered at him like a starving man would at food. "So, tell me." He rasped out. "Will you interest me?"

* * *

As she ran away from the source of the commotion, Tatsuki cursed inwardly. If her emotions weren't going in such a tornado, she wouldn't had such a violent reaction back there. If she hadn't been so violent, there would have been a good chance that they could have talked their way out of the situation. But even as she cursed herself, a small part of Tatsuki reveled in the noise and alarm she'd caused. After all, an alarm would bring strong people. Strong people would want to fight her, and nothing worked out stress and tension like kicking someone's ass!

Distracted by her emotional turmoil, Tatsuki almost missed the start of her long-awaited emotion release session. But her fighter's instinct kicked in right when she needed it, giving her enough time to dodge backwards. A powerful punch flew right through where she had been a moment ago, with a follow up aimed at her current position not far behind.

Crossing her arms in a guard, Tatsuki absorbed the blow, but her bones shook with the impact. 'What the hell?' she thought, dodging another few quick strikes. "How strong are you?!" she gasped out when she felt the vibrations an axe kick had left in the rock.

Tsunade cracked her neck, and answered. "Apparently not strong enough. Otherwise, you'd already be a smear on the pavement."

Tatsuki felt a predatory grin settle on her face as she settled comfortably into her first karate stance. "I think you'll find I'm a little stronger then you think."

* * *

All around Naruto, he could feel flares of battle going up. Not only the two directly near him, but all around the Seireitei. Ichigo and Renji. Orihime and Nanao. Chad and… was that Lee? Uryu and Captain Kurotsuchi. Tatsuki and a signal that was both familiar and not at the same time. And there was one signal, far more familiar then all the rest, stationary, right behind him.

That signal was familiar. Very, very familiar. Naruto smiled sadly as he continued to stare out into space. "Should we go somewhere else?" he asked ruefully. There was an affirmative grunt, and both Naruto and the new arrival shunpo'd to a nearby rooftop. There, Naruto saw his best friend for the first time in months.

The time had not been good to Uchiha Sasuke. His hair, usually shiny with good care, was limp and matted in several places. His robe was stained and dirty. But most importantly, his eyes shone with a light Naruto had hoped he would never see again: the light of madness, mixed in with thirst for battle. "You know I'm real, don't you." Naruto said. It was not a question.

Sasuke let out a small chuckle. "Of course I do. No one would ever been able to imitate you so well." His sword hissed as it exited the scabbard, and a fierce red glow began to emanate from the blade. Words fell from Sasuke's lips that he hadn't used for what seemed like decades. "Rise from the Ashes, _**Shinkufenikkusu**_!" The scarlet phoenix that was his blade roared to life, bathing the surrounding area in a fiery glow. "It just occurred to me that we'd never actually finished our fight."

Naruto held Shinobi out before him, almost ceremonially. With a quick motion, he drew it back, preparing to throw. "No, we never did, did we."

Once again, it was not a question.

And the battle was joined.

* * *

A/N: And that was the chapter. It left... 7 cliffhangers, I think. Is that a record?

Next chapter will be understandably epic. I expect it will be released somewhere around my birthday. In case you don't know that would be the fourth of april.

Please review! After all, it's christmas for me too!


	9. A Note From Vesvius

A/N: Well, you guys are probably going to be really pissed off at me after reading this.

Good news bad news time.

Bad news is that this version of Shrouded Orange has, in my opinion (which is the one that matters here), reached the maximum levels of suckitude. Sure, the ideas and concepts in it are pretty good, but my execution sucks, and I take full responsibility for that.

Good news is that this is not the end for Shrouded Orange. A rewrite is pending, which I'll get working on right after I've finished the first chapter of my current project (Not telling what that is, because it'd ruin the surprise). The rewrite will, hopefully, suck less then this one.

I'm leaving this story up for posterity's sake.

Cheers!

-**Vesvius B**


	10. Check Out the Note!

This is just an announcement that the prologue for Reshrouded Orange is up now!


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